Skip to main content

Full text of "Historical handbook of Italian sculpture"

See other formats 


:i)ix 


m: 


i 


M* 


'c/Aiivaen-^^^" 


•'■J^130NYS01^" 


'•^/SaBAINfl  3WV 


^c/AJivaan-^v^"       ^^o. 


vvlOSANCElfXy. 
=      < 

-n  I-' 

%aaAiNn]WV 


^^ILIBRARYQ/:         ^^ILIBRARYQc 


'^'<!/Odl1VDjO'^        ^(I/OJIIVJ-JO"^ 


.  \WE  LINIVERS/A 


^      o  / 


^lOSANCElfx^ 


^OPCALIFO% 
> 


^OFCALIFOfiV 


'&Aa\uoii-^  ^AdVcilJiliv 


,  ^WE  UNIVERVa 


^^^tllBRARYQr^ 


^        -^.i/OJIWDJO^ 


AV^EUNIVERS"/// 


, ^     _   o 


v^lOSANCElfj> 


"^/saaAiNO-Juv 


i? 


^ILIBRARYd?/:         A^l 


30 


^-A^OFCAIIFO/?^  ^^WEUNIVERS-//- 


, ^     ^  o 


O  " 


AiNn-3\A> ' 


^OFCAIIFO/?^        ^01 
>    V /      IS     >  ~ 


27     ^  ^ 


^lOSANCElfx^ 

o 


AiNiim"^- 


^^IIIBRARYQ^       >v^tLIBRARYQ^ 


\V\EUNIVER% 


^. 


^<!/0JnVDJO'^       ^,f/0JnV3JO^  <r^l3DNYS01^'^ 


71       o 


■n  <-» 


,OFCALIF0%, 


^OFCALIFO/?^ 


^<?Aav}ian-i'^      ^(JAyvaan-^- 


\\^t  liMVER&'/V 


, ,     ^  o 


-n  l-J 


<^lLlliKAHYO^^ 


%JiTV3J0^ 


^^WtUNiVERSy^ 
<ril30NVS01^ 


v^lOSANCElfj>. 
o 


%il3AlNn]V\V 


^^tllBRARYGr^       -^t 


>^OFCAilFOfti^ 


>- 

cc 

< 


,\\^EUNIVER^//. 


v^lOSANCElfX;^ 


.^OFCAIIFO% 


i^e^i  §12^1  fori  i^€) 


6> 


::i:j:.7sov^^      'v7iJi3AiNii  3\\v" 


^CAuVa3n-i;> 


'i:?Ayvaaniw 


,^ME•yNiVER% 

on   ^\.     \    -^ 

CO 


s^lOSANCEl5j> 


'^'<!/OJIlV3dO^         '^<!/0Jliy3-JO>'  •^TiiJONVSOl^'" 


-< 


i? 


^OfCAUFO/?,^^ 


.^,OFCALIFO% 


<rji3orvsoi^^ 


^lOSANCflfj> 


dAINil3V\V- 


^OFCAll 

OC 


^. 


\\[  yNIVER5"//i 


^^lOSA^ELfj-^ 


'^/iJ13AINn-3WV 


j^lllBRARYQ^        ^tllBRARYQ^ 


'^(l/OJnVDdO^ 


so 


>- 

cc 

<: 

on 


.\\^EUNIVERV/, 

-n 
O 


v^lOSANCElfx^ 


.^;OFCALIF0% 


^OFCAIIF0% 


3Alf!n]V\V 


>- 

oc 

< 

cc 

CO 


...XllBRARYQc. 


^^lllBRARYCk 


^ojnv>jo 


30 

'^<!/ojnv>jo>' 


AWEUNIVERS//, 


K-im-ANTFirr. 


^/^a3AiNn  jwv' 


^OFtALiFOfiV, 

cc 


4>^ 


^OFCALIfO% 

Cc 


Aavaan-^^      ^(^Aavaani'^ 


.^ 


.^WEUNIVER% 
5^  f 


"^Aa^AiNn-awv" 


:^ 


00 


^. 


\EUNIVER% 


mnLv  f  rn 


^vWSANCELfx^ 


"^/saHAiNG-awv 


BRARYOc.        ^^ILIBRARYQ^ 


i  ,;^ 


^ 


\oi\m-i^ 


^^ 


t  1 1' 


>d 


^iOJIlVDJO'^- 


c^ 


\EUNIVERS//) 


vKlOSANCElfXx 


^OFCAIIFO;?^ 


^OFCAllFOff^ 


.^WEUNIV 

I) 


^DORING       M.ADONNA. 


HISTORICAL    HANDBOOK 


OF 


ITALIAN    SCULPTURE 


BY 


CHARLES   C.    PERKINS 

CORRESPONDING   MEMBER   OF    THE    FRENCH    INSTITUTE 
AUTHOR    OF     "TUSCAN    SCULPTORS,"     "ITALIAN    SCULPTORS' 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S 

SONS 

3.883 

9   >  0 

>          0      -9      J 

-»   i 
i  i  i 

i 

>  >       > 

1473S1 


Copyright,  1882.  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


PRESS  OF    J.     J.   LITTLE    1   CO., 
NOS.    10    TO   20    ASTOf    f^LACE,    NEW    TC««. 


C   »  < 


hJ 


Etruscan  Bas-rglib?  from  Cninsi.    (Muade  Napoleon  III.  au  Louvre.) 


PREFACE. 


Greek  sculpture  of  tlie  fifth  century  before  the  Christian  era, 
^  and  Itahan  marble  work  of  the  tenth  century  after  it,  are  re- 
^  spectively  the  extremes  of  what  is  highest  and  what  is  lowest 
J  in  plastic  art,  for  the  first  belongs  to  a  period  of  assthetic 
?  culture  never  since  reached,  and  the  last  to  one  of  artistic 
ignorance  greater  perhaps  than  any  elsewhere  met  with  in  the 
history  of  a  civilized  nation.  Varying  between  Byzantinism, 
which  regulated  all  forms  of  art  by  strictly  conventional  rules, 
and  Medifevalism,  which  regarded  them  solely  as  a  means  oi 
conveying  doctrinal  instruction  through  symbolic  or  direct 
representation,  sculpture  in  Italy  had  dragged  out  a  feeble 
existence  for  many  centuries  before  the  year  1000  when  the 
end  of  the  world  was  confidently  expected,  and  had  then  almost 
ceased  to"  be.  As  the  dreaded  moment  approached,  men 
thought  only  of  how  they  could  save  their  souls  or  drown  their 
anxieties,  and  not  until  it  had  passed  did  they  breathe  freely 
enough  to  occupy  themselves  with  life  and  its  activities. 
Among  these,  art  at  once  claimed  attention,  as  gratitude  for 
deliverance  found  natural  expression  in  the  building  of  new 
churches  or  the  restoring  of  those  which  through  neglect  were 
fast  falling  to  ruin,  and  as  sculpture  formed  an  integral  part  of 
their  fagades  and  portals,  improvement  in  the  use  of  the  chisel 
soon  began  to  show  itself,  though  no  real  revival  took  place  in 
the    decorative  arts  until  the  first  quarter  of   the  thirteenth 


ii  Preface, 

century,  with  which  our  history  properly  begins.  Its  seat  was 
Tuscany,  and  its  leader  was  Niccola  Pisano,  of  whom  we  shall 
speak,  after  giving  some  account  of  sculpture  in  Italy  before 
his  time  and  as  he  found  it.  We  use  the  word  sculpture, 
which  implies  technical  and  aesthetic  training,  instead  of  stone 
carving,  which  more  properly  expresses  the  nature  of  much  of 
the  work  which  we  are  to  consider,  simply  because  it  is  a  more 
convenient  form  of  speech,  and  not  as  implying  artistic  excel- 
lence in  Italian  works  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries. 
Their  makers,  who  modestly  styled  themselves  ''Maestri  di 
Pietra,"  i.e.  stonecutters,  and  "  arte  marmoris  periti,"  men 
skilled  in  marble  work,  then  first  began  to  sign  their  works,  and 
to  be  lauded  in  fulsome  inscriptions,  which  while  they  show 
that  art  was  held  in  esteem  also  prove  the  low  standard  of  an 
age,  when  the  clumsiest  workmen  were  looked  upon  as  prodigies 
of  genius. 

In  preparing  this  volume  for  the  press  from  materials  already 
made  use  of  in  a  larger  work  on  the  same  subject,  and  from 
those  which  have  been  added  to  the  common  stock  of  informa- 
tion since  its  publication,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  speak 
of  Pre-revival  sculpture  throughout  Italy  in  an  introductory 
chapter,  and  to  begin  the  work — proper  with  the  Eevival.  After 
that  era,  as  the  personality  of  the  sculptor  becomes  more  and 
more  pronounced,  biographical  materials  increase,  until  in  the 
case  of  such  representative  men  as  Michelangelo  little  remains 
to  be  discovered.  Modern  research  is  however  constantly  active 
in  the  pursuit  of  fresh  information,  so  that  we  can  never  con- 
sider what  we  know  at  any  given  time  as  final,  but  the  historian 
can  do  no  more  than  avail  himself  of  present  acquisitions,  and 
this  I  have  endeavoured  to  do, 

"  AI3  ik  kan,  nict  als  ik  wil." 

Boston,  December,  1882i 


CONTENTS, 


INTRODUCTION. 


SECTION  I. 

PAGB 

Sculpture  in  Nortfeun  Italy  before  the  Eevival    .        .        .      ix 

SECTION  II. 
ycuLPTUKE  IN  Southern  Italy  beeore  the  Eevival    .        .        .  sxix 

SECTION  III. 

SCDLPTUEE  in   CENTUAIi  ItALY  BEFORE   THE  EeVIVAX,         .  .,  ,         lu 


BOOK    I. 
The  Eevival  and  the  Gothic  Period.     1240  to  1400. 

CHAPTEE  I. 

NiCCOLA  PiSANO 3 

CHAPTEE  II. 
The  Scholars  of  TSTicco.la  Pisano 23 

CHAPTER   III. 
Andrea  Pisano  and  his  Scholars 35 

CHAPTEE  IT. 
SlEK/j. 51 


BOOK   II. 

The  Early  Renaissance, 

CHAPTEE  I. 
Ghiberti  and  Donatello 73 


*v  Conte.nts, 

CHAPTER  II. 

PAGB 

1. — The  ScnoLAKS  of  Bkunellesciii       .       ,;        ....    108 

2. — The  Scholars  of  Ghibeeti 109 

3. — The  Scholars  op  DonateIlo 117 

CHAPTER  III. 
The   Robbias,   Mino,   Civitali,  Benedetto  da  Majai^o,  Atsdrfa 

FeKUCCI,  KusTICI  and   BARTOLOilEO   DA  MoNTELUPO  .  .139 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Abf.uzzi,  Andrea  dall'  Aqtjila.  IsTaples,  Andrea  Ciccione. 
Rome,  Paolo  Romano.  Lombardy,  Jacobino  da  Teadate, 
The  Mantegazza,  Omodeo,  Ambrogino  da  Milanc.  Vsnici, 
Calendario,  The  Ducal  Palace,  Tombs  at  Yenice,  Giovanni 
AND  Bartolomeo  Bon,  Pietro  Lombardo,  Guido  Mazzoni    ,    163 


BOOK   III. 

The  Later  Eenaissance.     1500  to  1600. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Andrea  Sansovino,  Jacopo  Tatti,  Jacopo  Sanpoi'ino,  Era?: c  esc j 

Di  Sangallo,  Benedetto  da  Rovezzano  and  Torriglano       .    237 

CHAPTER  II. 
Michelangelo 251 

CHAPTER   III. 

Bandinelli,   Ammanati,  Rapi'Aello  da  Monteltjpo,  Lorenzetto, 

MoNTORSOLi,  Cellini,  and  Gian  Bologna        ....    309 

CHAPTER   IV 

Non-Tuscan  Sculptors  and  their  Works  from  1500  to  1600    .    341 

APPENDIX 387 

INDEX  TO  TOWNS 405 

INDEX  OF  ARTISTS'  NAMES 423 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


BOOK  I. 


FAQB 


Frontispiece. 

Title-page.     Italo  Byzantine.     Marble  disk.     Campo  Santo, 

Pisa 
Preface.     Etruscan  bas-relief  from  Chiusi.     Louvre,  Paris      .  i 

1.  Byzantine  saint.     Stucco.     Eighth  century.     Sta.  Maria  della 

Valle.     Cividale xii 

2.  Descent  from  the  Cross.    Benedetto  Antelami  (1178).     Boiardi 

Chapel,  Dnomo,  Parma .         .  .....     xviii 

8.  Head  of  Heraelius.     Bronze.     Byzantine.     Seventh  century. 

From  Statue  at  Barletta,  Apulia  ......  li 

4.  Adam  and  Eve,  from   Sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus  (359). 

Crypt  of  St.  Peter's,  Rome Hi 

5.  Ascension  of  Elijah.     Early  Christian  bas-relief.     Fourth  or 

fifth  century.  Laterau  Museum,  Rome  ....  liii 
C.  Angel,  by  Rudolfinus  (1167).  Portal  of  S.  Bartolomeo,  Pistoja  Ixiii 
7.  Tail-piece.  Paschal  Candlestick.  Marble.  By  Niccolo  di  Angelo 

(1148).     S.  Paolo,  f.  le  m.  Rome Ixiv 


CB  AFTER  I. 

8.  The  Deposition.     Alto-relief,  by  Niccola  Pisano.     Side  portal 

of  San  Martino,  Lucca.     About  1240 10 

9.  Miracle,  by  St.  Dominic.     Bas-relief  on  "Area  di  San  Dome- 

nico."     Niccola  Pisano  (1267).  16 

10.  Tail-piece.     Allegorical  figures  from  the  fountain  at  Perugia. 

Niccola  and  Giovanni  Pisano  (1274) 22 


CHAPTER  IL 

11.  Group  symbolic  of  the  Evangelists.     Sant'  Andrea,  Pistoja. 

Giovanni  Pisano  (1303) •         .        32 

12.  Tail-piece.     Madonna  and  Child.     Ivory  statuette.     Sacristy, 

Duomo,  Pisa.     Giovanni  Pisano ,34 


Yi  List  of  Illustrations, 


CHAPTER  III. 


PAOK 


13.  Angel  announcing  lier  approaching  death  to  the  Madonna. 

Bas-relief  from  tabernacle  at  Or-Sau  Micliele,  Florence,  by 
Andrea  Orgagna.     (About  1350) 48 

14.  Portrait  of  Orgagna.     Tabernacle  at  Or-San  Michele.     Andrea 

Orgagna.     (About  1850) 50 

CHAPTER  lY. 

15.  Angels   from  the  Pier   of  Creation,   Fa9ade  of  the  Duomo, 

Orvieto.     (Before  1330) 54 

16.  St.  Catharine.     Bas-relief.     Trenta  chapel  at  San   Frediano, 

Lucca.     By  Giacomo  della  Quercia.     (About  1416)      .        ,        70 


BOOK  II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

17.  Female  figure  from  a  bas-relief  of  the  Baptism  of  our  Lord. 

Baptistry  Font,  Siena.     Lorenzo  Ghiberti.     (About  1427)  .        83 

18.  Equestrian  statue    of    Gattamelata,  Padua.      By   Donatello. 

(About  1445) 101 

19.  Tail-piece.     Israelites  taking  corn  from  Egypt.     From  second 

Baptistry  Gate.     L.  Ghiberti.     (1447)  ....      107 

CHAPTER  IL 

20.  Effigy  of  Pope   Sixtus  IV.     Chapel  of  the  Sacrament,  St. 

Peter's,  Rome.     Antonio  Pollajuolo  (1493)    .         .         .         .115 

21.  Allegorical  relief,  from  monument  of  Sixtus  IV.,  by  Antonio 

Pollajuolo  (1493^ 116 

22.  San  Giovannino.    Louvre,  Paris.  By  Mino  da  Fiesole.    (About 

1455) 138 

23.  Zachariah.      Statue,    by    Matteo    Civitali.     Duomo,    Genoa. 

(About  1420) 152 

24.  Tail-piece.     St.  John  the  Baptist.     Bargello,  Florence.     By 

Benedetto  da  Majano.    (Before  1480) 162 

CHAPTER  IV. 

25.  Saints  in  relief.     Tomb  of  Maria  da  Durazzo.     Sta.  Chiara, 

Naples.     (About  1330) 168 

26.  Angels  in  flat  relief ;  at  the  Certosa,  Pavia;  by  the  Brothers 

Mautegazza.     (About  1480) 184 


List  of  Illustrations.  vii 


I'Aan 


27.  Bas-relief  from  a  cliimtiey-piece  in  the  Ducal  Palace  atUrbino, 

by  Ambrogio  da  Milano.     (About  1470)        ....      194 

28.  Virtue.     Statuette.     Porta  della  Carta,  Ducal  Palace,  Venice. 

Giovanni  and  Bartolomeo  Bon.     (About  1440)     .         .         .      209 

29.  Tailpiece.    Lion  of  St.  Mark.    Piazzetta,  Venice.    (Thirteenth 

century  ?) 234 


BOOK  III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

30.  Effigy  of  Bishop  Bonafede.     Certosa,  Florence.    By  Francesco 

di  Saiigallo.     (About  1526) .    245 

31.  Tail-piece.     Head  of  a  boy  possessed  with  a  devil.     Bas-relief 

from  the  tomb  of  San  Giovanni  Gualberto.     By  Benedetto 

da  Eovezzano.     (About  1512)        ......      250 

CHAPTER  II. 

32.  Tail-piece.     Cupid.     S.  Kensington  Museum.     Michelangelo    .    308 

CHAPTER  III. 

33.  Church  Fathers.     Church  of  the  Servites,  Bologna.     By  Mon- 

torsoli.     (After  1557) 323 

34.  Perseus.     Loggia  de'  Lanzi,  Florence.     By  Benvenuto  Cellini 

(1.546) 331 

35.  Angel.    San  Petronius,  Bologna.    By  II  Tribolo.    (About  1528)     336 
30.  Mercury.     Bargello,  Florence.     Gian  Bologna.    (About  1559)  .      337 

37.  Bronze  Venus.     Statuette.     Fountain    at  Petraja.     By  Gian 

Bologna  ..........      339 

38.  Tail-piece.     St.  Cosimo.     Sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo,  Florence. 

By  Montorsoli  (1526  ?)  .        .  340 

CHAPTER  IV. 

39.  St.  Jerome.     Giustiniani  Chapel,  S.  Francesco  della  Vigne, 

Venice 357 

40.  Head  of  Bartolomeo  Coleoni,  from  equestrian  statue.     Piazza 

of  S.  Gio.  e  Paolo,  Venice.     Alessandro  Leopardi.     (About 
1490)      .        .  361 

41.  Jacopo  di  San  Severino,  from  his  monument  in  San  Severino, 

Naples,  by  Merliano  da  Nola.     (After  1516)  .         .         .368 

42.  Tail-piece.    Sta.  Chiara,  at  Sta.  Maria  de'  Miracoli,  Venice.  By 

Girolamo  Campagna  (1591) 386 


1 


V 

I 


IX 


INTRODUCTION. 


SECTION    I. 

SCULPTUEE   IN    NORTHERN    ITALY    BEFORE 

THE   REVIVAL. 

LOMBARDY. 

The  Goths  who  overran  Italy  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century 
were  fortunately  under  the  control  of  a  leader  who,  though  him- 
self so  illiterate  that  he  could  not  write  his  own  name,  had 
imbibed  at  the  Court  of  the  Emperor  Zeno  such  u  respect  for 
arts  and  letters  that  when  he  became  master  of  the  better  part 
of  the  Western  Empire  he  used  his  power  to  protect  ancient 
monuments  from  injury,  and  for  a  time  stopped  the  wanton 
destruction  of  those  vestiges  of  the  past.  With  a  shrewd  fore- 
sight, which  recognized  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  main- 
tenance of  his  authority,  Theodoric  (475-526)  stimulated  the 
Italians  to  the  cultivation  of  arts  and  letters,  while  he  kept  the 
Goths  out  of  the  reach  of  such  humanising  influences,  lest  in 
becoming  civilized  they  should  fall  off  from  their  high  state  of 
military  discipline.  The  palaces  which  he  erected  at  Terra- 
cina,  Ravenna,  Verona,  and  Pavia,*  were  built  by  Italian  archi- 
tects who  were  ignorant  of  any  other  style  of  architecture  than 
that  which  was  based  upon  the  round  arch,  and  imitated  the 
old  Roman  buildings  as  far  as  their  inferior  skill  would  allow. 
The  debased  Roman  was  therefore  the  only  style  employed  in 
Italy  during  the  period  of  Gothic  rule,  and  it  was  not  till  seven 
hundred  years  after  its  overthrow  that  the  pointed  style,  to 
which  the  name  of  Gothic  has  been  most  erroneously  attached, 
crossed  the  Alps  and  took  an  always  uncertain  foothold  in  the 
peninsula. 

While   Italian    architects    and    mosaic-workers    built    and 

*  Cantu,  Storia  degli  Italiani,  ii.  25. 


X        Historical  Handbook   :)/  Italian  Sculpture. 

decorated  the  edifices  of  Gothic  kings,  Italian  marble-workerg 
adorned  sarcophagi  with  such  rude  bas-reliefs  as  we  see  in  the 
Lateran  museum  at  Rome  and  about  the  streets  of  Kavenna, 
but  they  made  no  statues,*  and  were  so  inferior  to  Byzantine 
sculptors  that  St.  Ecclesius,  Bishop  of  Ravenna,  on  returning 
from  ByzantMTin,  where  he  had  witnessed  the  immense  enthu- 
siasm of  Justinian  and  his  people  in  the  construction  of  Santa 
Sophia,  determined  to  employ  only  Greek  workmen  upon  the 
church  of  San  Vitale.f  The  introduction  of  the  Byzantine  stjde 
into  Italy  thus  effected  was  productive  of  important  results,  for 
as  it  was  gradually  blended  with  the  classical  Roman,  with  which 
it  was  then  first  brought  face  to  face,  a  third  great  style  was 
formed,  known  as  the  Romanesque,  Romano-Byzantine,  Lom- 
bard or  Comacine.  The  two  first  names  sufiiciently  denote  their 
origin,  but  the  two  last  demand  some  explanation.  That  of  Lom- 
bard as  applied  to  any  art  is  an  absolute  misnomer,  if  supposed 
to  be  derived  from  the  barbarous  tribes  who  crossed  the  Alps 
under  Alboinus,  king  of  the  Lombards  or  Longobards,  reduced 
the  greater  part  of  Italy  to  subjection  and  ruled  it  for  nearly 
two  centuries,  since  they  like  the  Goths  were  ignorant  and 
unlettered.  It  was  not  because  the  new  style  of  architecture, 
which  sprang  up  in  Italy  during  their  dominion,  originated 
with  them,  that  the  name  of  Lombard  was  applied  to  the  manner 
of  building  then  prevalent,  but  because  the  greater  part  of 
the  southern  as  well  as  the  northern  Italian  provinces  were 
comprehended  under  the  name  of  Lombardy.  The  name  ot 
Comacine  was  derived  from  a  body  of  Italian  architects  who 
built  for  the  Lombards,  and  kept  art  traditions  alive  while  their 
rule  lasted.  For  twenty  years  after  Alboinus  and  his  followers 
overran  the  plains  of  Lombardy,  the  Isoletta  Comacina  (an 
island  in  the  Lake  of  Como),  which  held  out  against  their 
power  under  Francioue,  an  imperial  partisan,  contained  numbers 
of  fugitives  from  all  parts  of  Italy,  amongst  whom  were  many 

*  The  equestrian  group  wliich  savrcnuded  the  pediment  of  Theodoric'a 
palace  at  Eavenna  was  a  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Zeno  cast  at  Constanti- 
nople. It  bore  a  shield  upon  its  left  shoulder  and  a  lance  in  its  out- 
stretched right  hand.  Birds  flew  in  and  out  of  the  distended  nostrils  of 
the  horse  and  built  their  nests  in  his  belly  (Agnelli,  Llher  PontificallSf 
pt.  ii.  ch.  ii.  p.  123 ;  Mur.  Sc.  Iter.  It.  vol.  ii.). 

t  Completed  by  St.  Maximin  a.d.  546-556. 


Introduction.  xi 

skilled  artisans  known  as  the  Maestri  Comacini,  a  name 
afterwards  changed  into  that  of  "  Casari  "  or  ''  Casarii," — 
builders  of  houses.  After  they  had  submitted  to  the  invaders 
(a.d.  590)  their  college  or  guild  was  favoured  by  the  Lombard 
kings ;  its  members  were  affranchised,  made  citizens,  and 
allowed  certain  important  privileges,  but  there  is  no  evidence 
that  the  Lombard  kings  did  anything  to  protect  arts,  com- 
merce, or  industry  before  the  reign  of  King  Eotari  (a.d.  636 
-652),  whose  code  of  laws  contains -special  enactments  for  the 
protection  of  the  Maestri  Comacini,  and  a  recognition  of  their 
free  jurisdiction  in  the  name  given  to  them  of  Free-masons. 
During  the  early  period  of  Lombard  rule,  while  the  country  was 
suffering  from  war  and  pestilence,  these  artisans  found  little 
employment,  but  their  situation  was  ameliorated  after  the  con- 
version of  the  Lombards  from  Arianism  to  CatholicismT" 
through  the  influence  of  Queen  Theodolinda,  the  Bavarian  and 
Catholic  wife  of  their  King  Agilulph.  To  commemorate  his 
change  of  faith,  the  queen  employed  Comacine  architects  to 
build  the  Cathedral  at  Monza,  where  they  represented  her  with 
other  members  of  her  family,  and  the  precious  gifts  with  which 
she  endowed  the  Church,  in  a  bas-relief  of  the  Baptism  of  our 
Lord,  which  still  exists  over  its  chief  portal. 

A  hundred  years  after  her  time  other  Comacine  masters 
worked  at  Cividale  in  the  district  of  Friuli,  with  the  same 
methods  of  construction,  and  the  same  lack  of  skill  in  the  use 
of  the  chisel.  Their  architecture  and  sculpture  are  chiefly  in- 
teresting as  examples  of  a  transitional  period,  when  Eoman 
and  Byzantine  elements  hesitated  in  each  other's  presence 
before  uniting  in  the  Romanesque.  The  most  imjjortant  of 
these  Comacine  works  is  the  octagonal  font  in  the  Cathedral 
which  was  erected  by  St.  Calixtus,  Bishop  of  Aquileja,  about 
737.  The  spaces  between  the  slender  columns  with  rude 
Corinthian  capitals  which  support  its  roof  aro  spanned  by 
round  arches,  whose  spandrils  are  adorned  with  clumsily  repre- 
sented Christian  emblems.  The  bases  of  the  columns  rest 
upon  a  marble  parapet  decorated  with  figures  symbolical  of  the 
four  Evangelists.  These  figures  and  an  ornate  Greek  cross 
with  candelabra  and  palmettos,  are  executed  in  relief  by 
lowering  the  surface  of  the  stone  around  the  clumsy  outlines, 
within  which  the  details  are  indicated  by  furrows  dug  out  in 

h  2 


xii      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdptnre. 

the  stone.  The  sarcophagus  of  Pemone,  Duke  of  Friuli, 
under  the  high  altar  of  the  Church  of  San  Martino  is  contem- 
}3orary  with  them,  and  equally  rude  in  style.  Our  Lord  is  there 
represented  as  borne  upwards  by  four  angels  in  an  aureole 
formed  of  leaves  within  which  are  two  other  angels,  marked  as 
cherubim  by  the  eyes  upon  their  wings.  The  hand  of  the 
Father  is  sculptured  above  the  head  of  the  Son,  and  stars  and 
flowers  are  scattered  about  the  background.  In  the  bas-rv)lief 
of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi*  at  one  end  of  the  sarcophagus, 
and  in  that  of  the  meeting  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth  at  the 
other,  the  Madonna  has  a  cross  cut  upon  her  forehead,  instead 
of  having  it  traced  upon  a  veil  as  in  early  Greek  manuscripts. 
The  faces  of  the  figures  are  without  expression,  and  their  pro- 
portions are  short  and  clumsy.     Their  outlines,  features,  and 

folds  of  drapery  were  originally 
rendered  more  distinct  by  colour, 
traces  of  which  are  still  visible. 
Numerous  fragments  of  orna- 
ments and  animals  in  the  same 
Italo-Byzantine  style  are  set 
into  the  wall  of  the  atrium  of 
the  church  of  Santa  Maria  della 
Valle,f  where  they  may  be  easily 
compared  with  the  genuine  By- 
zantine figures  and  stucco  orna- 
ments inside  its  portal,  which 
were  probably  executed  for  Pel- 
truda,  wife  of  a  duke  of  Friuli, 
who  founded  the  adjoining 
monastery,  by  some  of  those 
artists  who  took  refuge  in  Italy 
during  the  Iconoclastic  war. 
The  archivolt  of  the  portal  is 
completely  covered  with  a  vine,  boldly  modelled  in  open  work. 


*  The  three  Kings  are  said  to  be  portraits  of  Eachis  Duke  of  Friuli, 
and  his  brothers  Aistulf  and  Ratcait. 

t  See  Tavole  Chronologicho  della  Storia  della  Chiesa  universale,  illus- 
crate  de  Ignazio  Mozzani.  sec.  8,  pp.  96,  97,  for  a  mention  of  Sta.  Maria 
della  Valle,  also  the  work  of  M.  de  Dartein  on  Lombard  architecture, 
pt.  ii.  ])p.  30  et  sej. 


Introduction.  xlii 

Above  it  are  six  life-size  statues  of  SS.  Anastasia,  Agape, 
Chiouia,  Irene,  Cbrysoguus  and  Zoiles,  wliose  long  propor- 
tions, rigidity  of  i)ose,  and  j^eculiar  type  of  face  give  them  the 
appearance  of  the  saints  represented  in  Byzantine  mosaics 
and  ivories.  They  wear  crowns  upon  their  heads,  and  are 
clothed  in  closely  fitting  robes,  whose  borders  are  ornamented 
with  gems  disposed  in  regular  patterns.  {See  wood-cut,  p.  xii.) 
It  is  important  to  remember  that  many  of  the  early  Italian 
churches  have  been  so  completely  changed  by  restoration  as  to 
retain  but  few  traces  of  their  original  aspect,  while  the  date 
of  the  sculptures  about  them,  when  history  fails  us,  can  only 
be  conjectured,  as  they  often  belong  to  a  later  period  than  the 
buildings.  The  capitals  of  the  columns  of  the  church  of  San 
Salvatore  at  Brescia,  for  instance,  some  of  which  are  Byzantine 
and  others  rude  imitations  of  the  Corinthian,  certainly  belong 
to  the  same  period  as  the  edifice,  which  was  built  by  the  Lom- 
bard king  Desiderius  and  his  wife  Ansa  in  the  eighth  century 
(769),  while  the  capitals  of  the  white  and  red  marble  colonnettes 
formerly  in  the  confession,  and  now  in  the  museum,  cannot 
have  been  sculptured  before  the  tenth  century,  as  one  of  them 
is  adorned  with  representations  of  the  martyrdom  of  Santa 
Julia,  whose  worship  did  not  obtain  favour  at  Brescia  until 
after  that  time.*  So  also  the  stucco  ornaments  and  reliefs  at 
San  Pietro  di  Civate  (in  the  territory  of  Brienza,  on  the  moun- 
tains near  the  Lake  of  Como),  which  was  built  by  the  same 
king  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  made  to  St.  Peter  when  his  son 
Adelchi  was  struck  blind  while  hunting,  are  of  several  diflerent 
periods,  though  none  appear  to  be  contemporary  with  the 
building  itself.  The  grifiins,  chimeras,  fantastic  animals  and 
fishes,  with  the  interlaced  ornaments  resembling  those  upon 
Scandinavian  monuments,  indicate  that  influence  of  northern 
traditions,  which  shows  itself  in  similar  sculptures  of  the 
eleventh  century  about  Apulian  churches,  but  the  subjects  in 
relief  from  the  life  of  our  Lord  belong  to  a  later  period,  for 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Passion  were  not  directly  represented 
in  this  part  of  Italy  before  the  twelfth  century.  So  again, 
while  the  rudely-shaped  animals  and  monstrous  figures  about 
the  facade  of  San  Michele  at  Pavia,  and  the  clumsy  images 
of  Sau  Michele  and  of  a  bishop  above  its  pediment,  are  works 

*  Eicci,  op.  ciL  i.  256,  25S. 


XIV     Historical  Handbook  of  Italiaft  SculpttLre. 

of  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  the  church  is  a  huilding  of 
the  tenth,  erected  upon  the  site  of  an  old  edifice  founded  by 
King  Grimoaldus,  which  was  burnt  down  when  the  Hungarian 
mercenaries  of  the  Emperor  Adalbert  set  fire  to  the  city. 


Milan. 

While  Theodoric  made  Pavia  a  royal  residence,  and  the 
Lombards  embellished  Llonza,  Milan  was  left  in  the  low  state 
to  which  Uriah,  the  nephew  of  Yitiges  Kiug  of  the  Goths,  had 
reduced  her  in  the  fifth  century.  Her  double  walls,  her  theatres, 
temples,  and  peristyles  adorned  with  statues,  mentioned  in  the 
verses  of  Ausonius,  were  then  thrown  down  and  destroyed, 
and  this  city,  which  had  been  the  first  in  Italy  after  Eome,  did 
not  regain  her  former  position  for  more  than  five  hundred  years. 
The  remains  of  early  sculpture  at  Milan  are  consequently  of 
little  importance,  and  only  x^orthy  of  attention  as  connected 
with  the  history  of  art.  The  earliest  are  a  sarcophagus  of 
the  fourth  century  in  the  church  of  S.  Celso,  which  differs  in 
no  respect  from  works  of  the  same  class  and  period  at  Rome 
and  Ravenna,  and  a  rudely  executed  bas-relief  of  the  eighth 
century  on  the  outside  of  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  di  Beltrade, 
which  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  connection  of  its  subject 
with  the  period  in  which  it  was  sculptured.  It  represents  a 
bishop  preceded  by  monks  bearing  an  image  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child  upon  their  shoulders,  and  followed  by  torch-bearers. 
The  man  with  a  long  beard  who  closes  the  procession  (called 
"Delia  Idea")  is  supposed  to  be  the  '' Primiciero  "*  of  the 
"Scuola  di  Sant'  Ambrogio,"  a  society  of  twenty  male  and 
female  beggars,  to  whom  alms  were  distributed  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  among  whose  benefactors  was  Archbishop 
Anspertus,  the  regenerator  of  Milan. 

With  the  exception  of  Anspertus  and  his  predecessor 
Angibertus,  the  Archbishops  of  Milan,  who  held  the  first  rank 
among  Italian  ecclesiastics  and  were  the  real  rulers  of  the  city 
under  the  weak  successors  of  Charlemagne,  did  little  for  any 
of  the  arts.     Angibertus  erected  the  ciborium  at  Sant'  Ambrogio 

*  From  his  dress  we  might  suppose  this  to  be  a  priest,  did  we  not 
know  that  priests  were  not  allowed  to  wear  beards  at  that  time  (Giulini, 
Mem.  di  3IilanOf  i.  305). 


Introduction,  xv 

(a.d,  835)  whose  gables  are  adorned  with  long-proportioned 
symmetrically  -  disposed  figures  in  relief  of  a  thoroughly 
Byzantine  ty^pe,  and  employed  an  artist  named  Wolvinus  to 
make  a  series  of  bas-reliefs  in  gold  to  decorate  the  high  altar. 

The  wealth  and  power  of  the  Milanese  archbishops  culminated 
in  the  person  of  Heribert  or  Aribert,  an  ambitious  and  w^arlike 
prelate,  who  assuming  the  right  to  dispose  of  the  crown  of  Italy, 
offered  it  at  the  Council  of  Constance,  to  the  German  emperor 
Conrad,  placed  it  on  his  head  in  the  cathedral  at  Milan, 
and  entertained  him  and  his  suite  with  princely  magnificence 
for  many  weeks  after  the  ceremony.  His  chief  title  to  remem- 
brance is  the  invention  of  the  Caroccio,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  principal  cities  of  Northern  Italy,  and  proved  a  powerful 
element  of  military  success,  as  its  loss  in  battle  was  a  disgrace, 
and  its  possession  by  the  enemy  the  surest  proof  of  victory.  It 
consisted  of  a  huge  car  with  a  lofty  mast,  surmounted  by  a 
crucifix  standing  on  a  gilded  globe,  from  which  floated  two  long 
white  banners.  An  altar  for  the  celebration  of  mass,  the 
military  chest,  and  all  kinds  of  medicines  and  bandages  for 
wounded  soldiers  were  carried  upon  it,  and  it  was  always 
kept  in  the  midst  of  the  army  while  in  the  field,  so  as  to  show 
where  the  commander  stood,  where  the  disabled  could  find 
succour,  and  where  fugitives  could  rally  in  safety.  The 
Milanese  regarded  their  caroccio  with  so  much  affection,  that 
when  Frederic  Barbarossa  ordered  it  to  be  broken  up  (a.d.  11G2) 
their  emotion  affected  even  his  rough  soldiers  to  tears,*  but 
they  took  their  revenge  upon  him  at  Legnano  five  years ^ 
later,  and  then  consecrated  the  rude  Byzantine-looking  crucifix 
W'hich  towered  above  the  Caroccio  on  that  memorable  day  in 
the  church  of  San  Calimaro,f  where  it  still  remains.  \ 

The  victory  of  Legnano  is  also  commemorated  by  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  Porta  Romana,  Avhich  represent  the  trium- 
phant citizens  returning  to  their  half-destroyed  homes,  headed 
by  a  monk  named  Frate  Jacopo,  who  bears  the  city  banner 
in  his  hand,  and  accompanied  by   their  allies  from   Cremona, 

*  Kington's  Life  of  Frederic  II.,  i.  52. 

t  The  figure  of  our  Lord  in  low  relief  is  both  coloured  and  gilded. 
Below  it  Archbishop  Heribert  is  represented  holding  the  model  of  the 
church  of  St.  Dionysius  in  his  hand.  The  square  nimbus  around  liia 
head  proves  that  the  crucifix  was  made  during  his  lifetime. 


xvi     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Brescia,  and  Bergamo.  One  of  the  inscriptions  upon  the  gate 
records  the  name  of  Anselmus  as  the  sculptor,  and  hails  him 
as  a  second  Dtedalus,*  hut  in  applying  to  him  a  name  which 
stood  to  his  coutemporaies  as  typical  of  the  perfect  sculj)tor 
they  showed  their  own  ignorance,  for  art  could  hardly  reach  a 
low^er  stage  than  in  these  short,  clumsy,  thickset  figures,  dang- 
ling in  the  air  like  a  row^  of  dolls  wdth  pendant  feet  and  shape- 
less hands.  The  contempt  of  the  Milanese  for  Barbarossa 
expressed  itself  in  two  bas-reliefs  of  himself  and  his  wife,  the 
Empress  Beatrice,  one  of  which  is  a  hideous  caricature,  and 
the  other  too  grossly  obscene  for  description. f  In  the  first  the 
Emperor  is  represented  as  a  bareheaded  and  long  haired  monster, 
holding  a  sceptre  in  one  hand  and  resting  the  other  upon  his 
thigh.  His  feet  are  crossed,  and  he  holds  between  his  knees 
a  nondescript  creature  with  a  human  head,  bat's  ears,  a  dragon's 
scaly  breast  and  wdngs,  and  fishes'  fins  in  lieu  of  arms.+ 

As  Milan  increased  in  power  and  wealth,  the  monuments  in 
her  churches  w^ere  so  greatly  multiplied,  that  at  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  they  are  said  to  have  been  no  less  than 
2,000  in  number.  Many  of  those  in  the  Cathedral  were  re- 
moved by  San  Carlo  Borromeo,  and  others,  such  as  the  twelve 
marble  statues  given  by  Pope  Urban  II.  in  1220,  a  pulpit 
made  by  a  certain  Oprando  da  Busnate,  and  divers  tombs  of 
the  Sforzas  and  the  Viscontis  have  disappeared,  so  that  the  red 
marble  sarcophagus  supported  upon  columns  in  which  Arch- 
bishop Otho  Visconti  (d.  1256)  was  buried,  is  now  the  only  exist- 
*'  ing  monument  to  a  member  of  either  family  in  the  Cathedral. 
It  may  be  the  work  of  one  of  the  Campionesi,  so  called  from 
Campione,  their   native  district  on   the    shores  of  the   Lago 

*  "  Hoc  opus  formavit  Anselmus  Dasdalus  ale."  "  Ale  "  has  been  siip- 
posed  to  stand  for  "  alter,"  or  to  be  an  abbreviation  of  Alexandrinus. 
"  Dasdalus  ale  "  has  also  been  read  as  "  De  Dalus  arte  "  (see  Millin,  Voyage 
dans  le  Milanais). 

t  This  bas-relief,  which  long  disgraced  the  Porta  Tosi,  is  now  preserved 
in  the  Palazzo  Archinti.  It  is  sculptured  on  the  back  of  a  Eoman  cippus, 
whose  inscription  says  that  Publius  Futilius  had  it  made  for  himself  and 
his  three  sons. 

J  Fiamma,  the  chronicler,  says  this  figure  was  made  for  the  Greek 
emperor;  but  this  cannot  be,  as  he  was  an  ally  of  the  leaguers.  Millin 
calls  it  "  Christ  Conqueror  of  Satan."  Giulini  and  Biondelli  believe  it  to 
be  the  portrait  of  Barbarossa.  "When  removed  from  the  gate  it  was 
eet  up  in  the  wall  of  a  house  overlooking  the  Naviglio. 


hitrodtiction.  xvii 

Ceresio,  to  whom  we  may  also  safely  attribute  whatever  of  an  im- 
proved style  is  to  be  found  at  or  near  Milan  of  an  earlier  date 
than  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  as,  for  instance, 
the  equestrian  alto-relief  on  the  outer  walls  of  the  Broletto  of 
tJie  Podesta  Orlando  di  Tresseno,  who  is  noted  for  having 
first  caused  heretics  to  be  burned  at  Milan  (1233).  He  is 
here  represented  with  bared  head,  and  hair  cut  close  in  the 
neck,  after  the  modern  fashion,  riding  on  a  heavy  limbed 
horse.  The  group,  though  wanting  in  life,  has  a  certain 
homely  truth  to  nature,  and  is  interesting  as  being  one  of 
the  first  works  of  its  kind  made  in  Italy  since  the  days  of 
Justinian. 


MODENA. 

Five  of  the  Campionesi,  named  Anselmo,  Ottaccio,  Enrico, 
Alberto  and  Jacopo,  were  employed  at  Modena,  about  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  to  sculpture  certain  bas-reliefs 
for  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  in  the  Cathedral.  The 
best  among  them  is  that  of  the  Last  Supper  by  Anselmo  which, 
though  far  from  being  a  masterpiece,  is  not  barbaric  like  the 
reliefs  of  the  victories  of  King  Arthur  over  the  Visigoths, 
sculptured  by  Wiligelmus,  a  Lombard  or  German  sculptor  of 
the  twelfth  century  upon  the  fagade  of  the  Cathedral.  Their 
figures,  like  those  in  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  Porta  Romana 
at  Milan,  lately  described,  have  round  staring  eyes,  pendant 
limbs,  and  furrowed  draperies,  and  rej)resent  sculpture  at  its 
lowest  stage  of  degradation,  while  those  in  Anselmo's  relief  of 
the  Last  Supper,  although  stiff  and  inexpressive,  show  some 
knowledge  of  form,  and  some  comprehension  of  the  require* 
ments  of  Art. 


Parma. 

Benedetto  degli  Antelami,  who  built  the  Baptistry  at  Parma, 
and  decorated  it  and  the  Cathedral  with  sculpture,  was  a  much 
more  remarkable  artist  than  his  contemporary,  Anselmo  da 
Campione.  Like  the  Campionesi,  and  the  Comacini,  the 
Magistri  Antelami  to  whom  Benedetto  belonged,  were  a  body 
of  architects  and  stone  carvers,  who  derived  their  name  from 


xviii    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlpttire. 

the  place  of  their  origin.  *  Benedetto,  who  came  from  the  Valley 
of  Antelamo,  in  the  province  of  Como,  between  the  lakes  of  Mag- 
giore  and  Varese,  is  known  to  us  only  by  his  patronymic,  and  we 
have  no  information  as  to  his  youth  and  education.  In  point  of 
technical  skill  he  was  not  in  advance  of  many  of  his  contempo- 
raries, but  though  he  expressed  himself  in  very  broken  language, 
he  had  vastly  more  intelligence  and  feeling  than  any  of  them, 
and  is  on  this  account  to  be  classed  as  their  superior.  Eighteen 
years  before  he  built  the  Baptistry  at  Parma,  and  decorated 
it  with  sculptures,  which  form  his  best  title  to  remembrance. 


J£(U 


Descent  from  the  Cross.     (By  Benedetto  Antelami.) 


he  carved  three  bas-reliefs  for  a  pulpit  in  the  Cathedral  (1178), 
one  of  which,  representing  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  is  now 
preserved  in  the  Boiardi  Chapel  (see  woodcut).  The  figures 
are  stiff  in  pose,  and  scanty  in  proportion,  but  they  form  a 
composition  with  a  central  group  and  side  groups  whose  action 
is  concurrent.  On  the  right  of  the  cross,  from  which  Nicodemus 
detaches  the  body  while  Joseph  of  Arimathea  supports  it  in 
his  arms,  stand  St.  John  and  the  Madonna,  who  assists  the 
flying  angel  above  her  head  to  hold  up  the  drooping  arm  ot 
her  Divine  Son.  The  corresponding  group  on  the  left,  repre- 
sents a  priest  who  is  pushed  forward  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross  by 


Inh'oditction.  xix 

a  soldier  and  a  flying  angel.  As  he  has  the  word  Synagoga, 
inscribed  above  his  head,  we  may  suppose  that  he  is  here 
introduced  as  a  type  of  the  stiff-necked  Jews.  This  striking 
and  so  far  as  we  know  original  idea,  exemplifies  those  mystical 
tendencies  of  Benedetto  which  found  full  expression  in  hia 
works  at  the  Baptistry  (1196).  The  bas-reliefs  of  its  three 
portals  illustrate  the  first  and  second  coming  of  Christ,  and 
symbolize  human  life.  Jacob  and  the  twelve  Patriarchs,  with 
Moses,  who  freed  the  children  of  Israel  from  slavery  as  Christ 
liberated  mankind  from  the  thraldom  of  sin,  and  the  kings 
of  David's  line  and  the  Madonna  are  represented  upon  the 
side  parts  of  the  north  portal  as  seated  one  above  the 
other  upon  the  leaves  of  a  vine,  the  tree  of  Jesse,  whose 
branches  intertwine  to  enframe  them.  Around  the  archivolt  sit 
the  prophets  who  foretold  the  coming  of  Christ,  holding  medal- 
lions, upon  which  half  figui-es  of  the  apostles  are  carved  in 
relief.  The  frieze  illustrates  the  history  of  our  Lord  and  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist.  Upon  the  side  posts  of  the  western  portal 
are  the  deeds  of  charity,  which  the  Judge  will  enumerate 
as  the  titles  of  the  just  "to  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  them  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,"  and  the  parable  of 
the  Labourers  of  the  Vineyard,  divided  into  twelve  parts  to 
represent  the  hours  of  the  day.  In  the  lunette  sits  Christ  the 
Judge,  surrounded  by  angels  bearing  the  instruments  of 
the  Passion,  and  upon  the  architrave  are  other  angels  blowing 
trumpets  to  call  the  dead  to  life.  The  principal  decoration 
of  the  southern  portal  is  a  bas-relief  in  its  lunette,  which  repre- 
seats  a  youth  seated  in  the  branches  of  a  tree,  gathering  honey 
from  a  honeycomb,*  while  two  small  animals  are  gnawing  at  its 

*  Many  learned  explanations  have  been  given  of  this  relief.  See  for 
example,  the  Eevue  Arclieologique,  Paris,  t.  x.  p.  289;  Letter  written  by 
Sig.  Lopez  to  M.  Isabelle ;  Hammer,  Antologia  di  Firenze,  1827,  p.  84 ; 
Valery,  Voyage  en  Italie,  t.  ii.  p.  210 ;  Sacchi,  AnticMsta  Romantiche 
(V  Italia,  epoca  i.  p.  117  ;  M.  le  Dr.  Duchalais,  Letti-e  a  M.  Lopez  tlu  5 
juin  18o4,  imprime  dans  le  xxii*  vol.  p.  307,  cles  Mcmoircs  cle  la  Societe 
Imperiale  des  Antiqioaires  de  France,  1855,  in  which  he  suggests  that  the 
subject  of  the  bas-relief  was  drawn  from  the  legend  of  S.  Barlaam ; 
Didron,  Annales  Archeologiqnes,yo].  xv.  p.  413, 1855.  Sig.  Lopez,  op.  cit. 
p.  180,  quotes  the  explanation  given  by  Sig.  Ab.  Luigi  Barbieri  and 
l)rinted  in  the  Efemeride  della  Pubblica  Istruzione  (anno  ii.  no.  28,  April 
1,  1861,  p.  473),  as  the  most  satisfactory.     Sig.  Barbieri  says  that  the 


XX      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

roots,  and  a  dragon,  with  flames  issuing  from  his  extended 
jaws,  sits  watching  to  seize  his  prey  when  they  shall  have 
done  their  work.  Thus  man,  absorbed  in  worldly  enjoyments, 
forgets  his  inevitable  doom.  Reliefs  in  red  Verona  marble, 
of  such  symbolic  human  figures,  heads,  busts,  animals,  and 
fantastic  monsters  as  are  frequently  seen  about  Lombard 
churches,  are  disposed  about  the  eight  sides  of  the  building ; 
and  others  of  Faith,  Justice  and  Peace,  Hope,  Prudence  and 
Modesty,  Charity  and  Piety,  Chastity,  Patience  and  Humility, 
are  placed  near  the  doorways. 

The  lunettes  of  the  three  doors  within  the  building  are 
filled  with  reliefs  representing  the  flight  into  Egypt,  the  Pre- 
sentation of  Christ  in  the  Temple,  and  the  Regions  of  the 
Blessed.  In  a  fourth  relief  upon  the  high  altar,  Christ  seated 
within  a  mandorla  blesses  with  his  right  hand,  and  rests  his 
left  upon  an  open  book.  In  considering  these  w^orks,*  w'e  must 
remember  that  they  were  sculptured  at  a  time  when  anything 
beyond  the  decoration  of  a  font  or  an  architrave  with  emblems 
was  seldom  attempted,  while  in  them  on  the  contrary,  the  whole 
scheme  of  human  redemption  is"  unfolded  in  a  series  of  allegorical 
and  sacro-historical  compositions  and  symbolic  figures,  by  a 
master  who  lived  more  than  a  century  before  Giotto  treated  the 
same  subject  on  the  walls  of  the  Arena  Chapel  at  Padua. 
This  once  again  brings  us  to  see  that  in  art,  as  in  nature,  the 
processes  of  evolution  are  slow  and  progressive.  An  appa- 
rently sudden  advance  is  always  preceded  by  eff"orts  which  have 
made  it  possible,  and  it  is  the  discovery  of  these  efforts  which 
gives  charm  to  the  study  of  art  in  its  early  periods.  Objects 
in  themselves  unattractive  become  interesting  so  soon  as  we 
recognize  their  historical  relations  to  each  other  and  to  those 
of  later  and  more  educated  times.  Thus,  at  Parma,  when  we 
compare  the  sculptures  of  the  Baptistry  w'ith  the  work  of 
Lombard  times,  about  the  doorway  of  one  of  the  old  portals  of 
the  Basilica  of  San-Quintino,  and  upon  the  so-called  Porta  di 

bas-relief  expresses  human  life  in  its  beginning,  its  source  and  its  end; 
and  that  it  is  truly  symbolical  in  that  it  has  a  triple  significance,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  physical,  the  moral,  and  the  religions  attributes  of  human 
nature. 

■*  The  facade  sculptures  of  the  Cathedral  at  Borgo  San  Donino  near 
Parma,  were  perhaps  executed  by  Benedetto  or  his  scholars. 


Introduction.  xxi 

San  Bertoldo  in  the  choir  of  the  church,  which  are  respectively 
of  the  ninth  and  eleventh  centuries,  we  see  that  although  no 
great  advance  has  heen  made  in  technic,  the  field  of  art  repre- 
sentation has  been  greatly  widened.  Nearly  all  the  great  and 
many  of  the  small  North  Italian  cities  give  opportunity  for  such 
comparative  study  and  observation,  as  for  instance  Verona, 
Venice,  Mantua,  Modena,  etc.,  of  which  we  shall  uow  proceed 
to  speak  briefly. 


Verona. 

The  earliest  sculptors  mentioned  at  Verona,  are  Magister 
Urso,  or  Orso,  and  his  scholars  Gioventius  and  Gioviano,  whose 
names  were  inscribed  upon  a  ciborium  in  the  church  of  San 
Giorgio  di  Val  Pulicella.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been 
refugees  from  the  Roman  Campagna,  who  when  Alboinus  de- 
scended with  his  Lombard  followers  into  Italy  in  the  sixth  century, 
fled  with  many  natives  of  the  invaded  provinces  to  the  Isola 
Comacina,  and  eventually  became  members  of  its  famous  body 
of  architects.  Maestro  Pacifico,  who  lived  in  the  ninth  century, 
was  perhaps  a  Veronese,  as  were  Guglielmus,Nicolaus,Briolottus, 
and  Adaminus,  who  in  the  twelfth  took  part  in  the  decoration 
of  the  venerable  church  of  San  Zeno,  which  though  founded 
in  the  sixth  century  was  not  completed  till  after  the  middle  of 
the  tenth  (961).  Guglielmus  has  been  identified  with  the 
sculptor  of  the  bas-reliefs  and  portal  ornaments  about  the 
Cathedral  at  Modena,  and  Nicolo  with  the  Nicolo  del  Ficarolo 
who  decorated  the  exterior  of  the  cathedral  at  Ferrara.  The 
rude  bas-reliefs  on  either  side  of  the  portal  of  San  Zeno  repre- 
sent subjects  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  fantastic 
animals,  knights  on  horseback,*  &c.,  &c.  The  figures  in  these 
compositions  are  short  and  clumsy,  with  eyes  marked  by  round 
holes  bored  in  the  stone  and  painted  black,  and  with  furrowed 
draperies  which  still  bear  traces  of  colour.  San  Zeno  appears 
in  the  lunette  above  the  portal,  standing  on  a  dragon,  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  people  and  knights  on  horseback.  The 
doorway  is  closed  by  wooden  doors  covered  with  metal  plates, 

*  One  of  the  knights  on  horseback  going  to  the  chase  is  supposed  to 
be  meant  for  Theodoric,  who  according  to  a  legend,  was  supplied  with  men 
and  horses  by  the  infernal  powers. 


xxii    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadptiire. 

beaten  out   into  reliefs  of  the  very  rudest  description,  and  of 
unknown  date,  which   represent  scenes   from  the   Bible,  and 
miracles  worked  by  San  Zeno.*     Briolottus,  who  made  the  bap- 
tismal font  within  the  church  and  the  beautiful  round  window 
emblematic  of  Fortune's  wheel  above  the  fa9ade-portal,  probably 
lived  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century.     The  wheel  is  covered 
with  little  figures,  sitting,  climbing,  and  falling,  and  is  inscribed 
with  Latin  verses  to  this  effect, "  I  elevate  some  mortals  and  depose 
others ;  I  give  good  or  evil  to  all ;  I  clothe  the  naked  and  strip  the 
clothed,  in  me  if  any  one  trust  he  will  be  turned  to  derision."  / 
Adaminus,  who  inscribed  his  name  upon  one  of  the  capitals 
of  the  double  shaft  which  divides  the  entrance  to  the  crypt  of 
San   Zeno,   sculptured  the  reliefs  upon   the  architrave  above 
them.     They  represent  a  centaur  hunting  a  stag,   a  dead  fox 
carried  on  a  staff  by  two   cocks,  birds,  snails,  frogs,  imaginary 
animals  and  trees,  which  though  barbarously  drawn  are  treated 
with  spirit.     When,  as  here,  the  Komanesque  sculptor  confined 
himself  to  w'ork  of   a  decorative  character,  he  was  tolerably 
successful,  but  we  need  only  look  at  the  colossal  San  Zeno  in 
the  choir  of  this  church,  or  at  the  figures  of  a  large  size  and  in 
high  relief  about  the  portal  of  the  Cathedral,  which  were  pro- 
bably executed  early  in  the  twelfth  century,  to  see  how  signally 
he    failed  in    more   ambitious    attempts.       The    paladins    of 
Charlemagne,  there  represented  in  allusion  to  the  popular  tra- 
dition  that  the  church  was  founded  by  King  Pepin,  have  short 
thickset  forms,  staring  eyes  and  vacant  faces,  and  their  draperies 
and  outlines  are  marked  with  furrows  dug  out  in  the  stone. 
The  other  sculptures  about  this  portal,   the   symbols  of  the 
Evangelists,  the  Prophets  and  Virtues,  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac, 
&c.  &c.,  are  equally  barbaric  in  style  and  execution,  and  of  about 
the  same  date.     It  is  evident  that  the  artists  who  made  them 
worked  under  no  outside  influence,  but  this  was  certainly  not 
the  case  with    the  equally  unknown  sculptor  of  the  font    in 
San  Giovanni  in  Fonte  (about  1200),  as  its  reliefs  of  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Christ  from  his  birth  to  his  baptism,  betray  the 
influence  of  Byzantine  pictures  and  of  antique  marbles  upon 
the  artist's  mind.     In  execution  they  are  very  superior  to  other 

*  Gailhabaud  {Hist,  de  V Architecture  du  vn^  au  xvii™*  siecZe),  states 
hia  belief  that  they  belong  to  two  epochs,  the  latest  having  been  made 
after  a  fire  in  mclx. 


Intj'oduction.  xxlii 

works  of  tlie  time,  aiul  notably  so  in  the  treatment  of  the 
draperies,  in  the  more  natural  action  of  the  figures,  and  in  their 
combination  into  groups  which,  as  in  the  Annunciation  and  in 
the  Murder  of  the  Innocents,  show  no  little  comprehension  of 
the  principles  of  composition,  and  in  the  latter  a  remarkable 
dramatic  feeling.  The  sculptor  of  this  font  founded  no  school  at 
V'erona,  and  the  character  of  his  work  is  so  dilferent  from  that 
of  any  other  Italian  trecentist,  that  we  are  half  inclined  to 
accept  the  theory  that  he  came  from  beyond  the  Alps. 


Venice. 

The  oldest  sculptures  to  be  seen  at  Yenice  were  brought 
thither  by  the  inhabitants  of  Aquileja  and  Altina,  when  they 
were  driven  to  take  shelter  on  the  islands  of  the  Lagoon  by  the 
Huns  in  the  fifth,  and  the  Lombards  in  the  seventh  century. 
Those  who  came  to  Torcello  with  Paulus  Bishop  of  Altina  in 
the  year  640,  brought  tools  and  materials  with  them,  and  were 
thus  enabled  to  build  churches  and  other  edifices,  for  whose 
decoration  they  obtained  an  almost  inexhaustible  supply  of 
sculptured  stone  from  Heraclea,  Aquileja  and  Altina.* 

Many  such  transplanted  fragments,  consisting  of  antique 
capitals  and  columns,  and  of  early  Christian  slabs  sculptured 
Avith  peacocks,  lions,  crosses,  and  vines  in  flat-surfaced  low 
relief,  may  be  seen  at  St.  Mark's  and  about  the  cancellum,  the 
cattedra  and  the  pulpit  in  the  Cathedral  at  Torcello  which  was 
lounded  by  Bishop  Paulus,  together  with  the  baptistry,  whose 
font  was  supplied  with  ever-running  water  from  the  mouths  of 
brazen  animals.  This  font  no  longer  exists,  nor,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  marbles  already  mentioned,  is  there  any  sculp- 
ture at  Torcello  earlier  than  that  in  the  Cathedral  which  is 
probably  a  work  of  the  ninth  century.  The  four  capriciously- 
imagined  monsters  on  the  outside  of  its  marble  basin,  and  the 
human  figures  grouped  around  the  short  column  upon  which  it 
Brands,  are  carved  with  the  extreme  rudeness  characteristic  of 
the  period  to  which  it  belongs.     It  was  not  until  after  the  tenth 

*  Romanin,  Storia  di  Venezia,  1.  48.  The  continuator  of  the  Cronaca 
Altrnate  says  that  the  citizens  of  Oderza,  "  totam  petram  debiuo 
abstulerunt.'' 


xxiv    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

century  that  some  slight  amelioration  took  place,  when  draperiea 
were  better  arranged,  and  hands  and  feet  fashioned  a  little  more 
like  nature. 

Z'  The  character  of  early  Venetian  sculpture,  which  in  type  and 
treatment  of  subject  resembles  the  early  Christian  in  other 
parts  of  Italy,  is  illustrated  among  other  examples  by  the 
cattedra  in  the  treasury  of  St.  Mark's,  a  work  of  the  tenth  or 
eleventh  century,  although  it  lays  traditional  claim  to  an  origin 
of  far  higher  antiquity.*  The  mystic  lamb  standing  upon  the 
mountain  out  of  which  flow  four  rivers,  the  olive  branch  of 
peace,  and  the  cross,  are  represented  on  the  back  of  this  vener- 
able relic,  and  the  symbols  of  the  four  Evangelists  surrounded 
by  the  six  wings  of  the  cherubim,  upon  its  sides.  Other  contem- 
porary marbles  in  and  about  the  Basilica,  carved  in  the  same 
rude  style,  prove  that  Venetian  sculptors  at  the  end  of  the 
tenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  were  men  of 
little  skill,  and  this  is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  the  doge 
Pietro  Orseolo  was  obliged  to  procure  artists  from  Constanti- 
nople to  rebuild  St.  Mark's,  which  had  been  burnt  down 
during  the  reign  of  his  tyrannical  predecessor  Candiano  IV.    , 

The  remark  "that  the  history  of  the  human  race  might  be 
written  by  the  aid  of  tombs"  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  that  of 
the  Venetians,  whose  city  is  so  rich  in  these  memorials  of  the 
dead.  Through  them  we  not  only  learn  the  names  of  her  doges_. 
great  captains,  and  eminent  men,  but  in  the  early  simplicity, 
the  increasing  splendour,  and  the  ultimate  extravagance  of 
their  monuments,  discover  the  causes  of  the  primitive  strength 
and  the  later  weakness  of  the  Republic. 

The  custom  of  burying  illustrious  persons  in  Eoman  or  early 
Christian  sarcophagi  prevailed  at  Venice  until  the  fourteenth 
century.  Vitale  Faliero  (1086-1096),  for  instance,  in  whoso 
reign  occurred  the  miraculous  recovery  of  the  body  of  St.  Mark 
and  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  lies  in  the  atrium  of 

*  Venetian  chronicles  state  that  St.  Mark  sat  upon  this  cathedra ;  that 
It  was  brought  from  Alexandria  to  Constantinople  by  the  Empres»J 
Helena,  and  thence  sent  by  the  Emperor  Heraclius  as  a  present  W 
Primigenius,  Patriarch  of  Grado,  who  wished  to  keep  up  amicable  rela- 
tions with  the  Venetians,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  engaging  in  a 
war  with  the  Lombards  to  recover  the  treasury  of  Grado,  which  had  been 
carried  off  by  Fortunatus,  Patriarch  of  Aquileja. 


Introduction.  xxv 

St.  Mark's,  to  the  right  of  the  great  portal,  in  an  antique  sar- 
cophagus decorated  with  shapeless  octagonal  columns.  In  a 
similar  sarcophagus  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  portal,  lies  the 
wife  of  Vitale  Michieli,  Avho  ruled  the  Republic  (1096-1101)  at 
the  time  of  the  first  crusade,  in  which  Venice,  fearing  that  it 
would  interfere  with  her  commerce  with  the  East,  co-operated  but 
coldly.  Another  doge,  Marino  Morosini  (1249-1256),  whose 
reign  was  short  and  uneventful,  also  lies  in  the  atrium  of  St. 
Mark's  in  an  old  Christian  sarcophagus,  sculptured  with  rude 
figures  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  angels  bearing  censers,  and 
ornate  crosses.  His  immediate  predecessor,  Jacopo  Tiepolo, 
(1229-1249),  and  his  grandson  the  doge  Lorenzo  (1268- 
1275),  are  buried  in  massive  sarcophagi  on  the  fa9ade  of 
San  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  simply  decorated  with  angels  bearing 
censers,  and  with  birds  with  crosses  placed  like  crests  upon 
their  heads. 

^  The  commercial  relations  of  the  Venetians  with  the  East, 
which  brought  them  under  Byzantine  influences,  and  the 
presence  of  Greek  workmen  at  Venice,  shaped  their  taste  in 
art  until  the  thirteenth  century.  The  capitals  of  many  of  the 
columns  of  St.  Mark's,  the  general  character  of  the  building, 
the  numerous  Byzantine  Madonnas  upon  its  walls,  and  its  cen- 
tral bronze  door,  which  though  an  Italian  work  is  so  absolutely 
Greek  that  were  it  not  for  the  Latin  inscriptions  and  saints 
upon  its  panels,  we  should  suppose  it  to  have  been  cast  at 
Constantinople,  are  indisputable  evidences  of  the  strength  of 
this  foreign  influence. */In  the  thirteenth  century  a  rude  but 
national  style  began  to  be  formed,  among  whose  first  fruits  were 
the  scripture  bas-reliefs  carved  upon  the  marble  columns  of  the 
ciborium,  a  bas-relief  in  the  baptistry  representing  the  Baptism 
of  our  Lord,  and  the  little  figures  at  the  base  of  the  columns 
in  the  Piazzetta.  The  inclination  to  select  subjects  for  artistic 
representation  from  the  life  of  the  people,  which  afterwards 
found  its  full  expression  in  the  capitals  of  the  columns  of  the 
Ducal  Palace,  shows  itself  in  these  figures  sculptured  by  a  Lom- 
bard artist  named  Nicolo  Barattieri,  who  was  so  called  because 
he  was  allowed  to  establish  public  games  of  chance  between 

*  This  door  was  made  by  order  of  the  procurator  of  St.  Mark's, 
Leone  di  MoHno,  in  the  year  1112.  The  door  to  the  right  is  a  real  Byzan- 
tine work  brought  from  Constantinople  in  the  year  1204.'. 

C 


xxvi      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  SctdptzLre. 

the  columns  as  a  reward  for  his  skill  in  raising  them  from  the 
ground,  where  they  had  lain  since  the  Doge  Domenico  Michieli 
brought  them  from  the  Holy  Land  (1125).  This  Nicolo,  a 
Maestro  Donato,  and  the  Joannes  de  Venetia  who  carved  the 
attributes  of  the  Evangelists  over  the  portal  of  Sta.  Maria  in 
Cosmedin  at  Eome,  are  the  only  Venetian  marble-workers 
known  to  us  before  the  fourteenth  century.  Up  to  that  time 
the  few  native  sculptors  were  employed  in  adapting  old  frag- 
ments to  new  uses,  and  it  was  not  until  the  supply  of  carved 
stone  failed  that,  being  obliged  to  meet  the  demand  with  their 
own  work,  they  began  to  improve.  The  introduction  of  the 
Gothic  style  of  architecture,  of  which  Greek  workmen  were 
ignorant,  made  it  necessary  that  the  Italians  should  fit  them- 
selves to  take  the  place  which  foreigners  had  hitherto  so  generally 
occupied.  Thus  with  the  adoption  of  a  new  style  of  building, 
of  which  sculpture  formed  an  integral  part,  this  art  may  be  said 
to  have  first  taken  root  at  Venice. 


Padua. 

The  north  Italian  cities  not  yet  mentioned,  contain  veiy 
little  pre-revival  sculpture.  The  works  of  Fra  Clarello,  architect 
and  sculptor  at  Padua  in  the  thirteenth  century,  have  disappeared 
from  San  Antonio,  with  many  other  early  marbles  which  once 
decorated  its  walls  and  cloisters,  and  it  contains  no  examples 
of  carved  stone- work  older  than  the  fourteenth  century,  with  the 
exception  of  two  sarcophagi,  in  one  of  which,  now  hidden  under 
the  altar  of  the  Cappella  dei  Conti,  the  body  of  St.  Anthony  is 
said  to  have  been  deposited  by  the  Paduans,  when  after  a  five 
days'  fight  they  took  it  from  the  Convent  of  Arcesia  where  he 
died  (1231).  The  other,  in  the  cloister  of  the  Capitolo,  con- 
tains the  bodies  of  Costanza  d'Este  and  her  husband  Count 
Guide  da  Lozzo,  who  was  himself  driven  out,  after  he  had 
helped  to  overthrow  Ezzelino,  when  he  endeavoured  to  seat 
himself  in  the  tyrant's  place. 

Mantua. 

This  city  contains  but   two  works  whose  date  brings  them 
within  this  division  of  our  subject,  the  one  a  statue,  the  other 


\ 


Introduction.  xxvii 

an  alto-relief  of  the  illustrious  Latiu  poet  whom  she  claims  as 
her  sou.  When  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Mantuans  had  repulsed  the  Cremonese,  and  raised  the  siege  of 
the  Castle  of  Gouzaga,  the  magistrates  decreed  that  the  event 
should  be  commemorated  by  placing  a  statue  of  Virgil  in  a 
niche  overlooking  the  Piazza,  so  that  he  might  appear  to  share 
in  the  successes  of  his  compatriots.  This  poor  work  by  an  un- 
known sculptor  (1220),  represents  him  dressed  in  a  long  robe, 
with  the  cap  of  a  rector  of  the  people  on  his  head,  seated  at  a 
reading  desk  with  an  open  book  before  him.  The  alto-relief 
of  the  great  poet  in  the  Museo  Patrio,  sculptured  about  twenty- 
five  years  later  than  the  statue,  is  superior  to  it.  Both  interest 
us  chiefly  as  examples  of  a  branch  of  art  rarely  attempted  at  a 
time  when  sculpture  was  almost  altogether  decorative. 


PlACENZA. 

The  facade  of  the  Cathedral,  which  was  erected  early  in  the 
twelfth  century  (1122),  has  clumsily  executed  bas-reliefs  about 
its  northern  and  southern  portals,  and  the  sculptured  signs  of 
the  Zodiac. 


Fereara. 

The  Cathedral  at  Ferrara  was  rebuilt  at  the  end  of  the  tenth 
century,  and  its  facade  was  decorated  with  sculptures  at  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  by  Nicolo  da  Ficarolo,  so  called  from  the  branch 
of  a  fig  tree  over  the  right  hand  portal,  or  from  Vico  Ariolo 
his  supposed  birthplace,  a  town  in  the  Ferrarese  district. 

This  sculptor,  who  is  perhaps  identical  with  the  Nicolo  with 
whom  we  made  acquaintance  at  Verona,  represented  the  agricul- 
tural labours  of  the  year  upon  the  arch  and  architrave  of  one 
of  the  side-portals,  thence  called  the  Porta  de'  Mesi. 

The  equestrian  statue  of  San  Romano  above  the  great  portal 
is  attributed  to  one  of  the  Byzantine  artists  whom  the  Doge 
Pietro  Orseolo  brought  to  Venice  in  the  eleventh  century  to 
rebuild  the  church  of  St.  Mark. 


C  2 


xxvili      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Genoa. 

The  Cathedral  at  Genoa  was  founded  a  century  later  than 
that  at  Ferrara,  but  the  oldest  of  its  fa9ade  sculptures  are 
apparently  much  earlier  in  date  than  either  of  these  buildings. 
The  fantastic  animals,  sirens  and  monsters  carved  about  the  side- 
posts  of  the  small  doorway  to  the  left,  belong  both  in  character 
of  subject  and  mode  of  execution  to  Lombard  times,  so  that 
we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  they  originally  decorated  the  old 
church  of  San  Lorenzo,  which  was  pulled  down  to  make  room 
for  the  present  edifice.  The  biblical  reliefs  on  either  side  of 
the  chief  portal,  which  represent  the  Stem  of  Jesse,  and  the 
early  history  of  our  Lord,  are  works  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
to  which  we  may  also  assign  the  Martyrdom  of  San  Lorenzo  in 
the  lunette,  and  the  Byzantine  looking  Christ  above  it.  The 
reliefs,  executed  in  a  stiff  bad  style,  are  crowded  with  small 
figures  confusedly  ranged  one  abovn  the  other  with  little  or  no 
attempt  at  composition. 


Int7'oduction,  xxix 


SECTION    II. 

SCULPTURE   IN   SOUTHERN   ITALY  BEFORE   THE 

REVIVAL. 

Apulia  and  the  Kingdom  of  Naples. 

The  name  of  Apulia,  which  properly  belongs  to  a  province 
of  Eastern  Italy,  has  been  applied  at  different  periods  to  a 
larger  or  smaller  portion  of  country.  Under  Norman  rule  it 
was  given  to  the  part  of  the  Peninsula  south  of  Rome,  includ- 
ing the  provinces  afterwards  consolidated  into  the  so-called 
Kingdom  of  Naples,  while  by  a  singular  fiction,  when  the  Italian 
possessions  of  the  Greeks  had  been  reduced  to  the  province  of 
Apulia  proper,  they  clung  to  the  shadow  of  their  once  wide- 
spread domination,  and  called  it  Italy.  At  the  end  of  the 
tenth  century  the  Eastern  emperors  bounded  their  possessions 
by  an  ideal  line  drawn  from  Monte  Gargano  on  the  Adriatic 
to  the  Bay  of  Salerno  on  the  Mediterranean,  and  governed  this 
territory,  which  included  Apulia,  the  Capitanata,  Otranto, 
Calabria  and  Beneventum,  by  a  Greek  officer,  residing  at  Bari, 
who  bore  the  title  of  Catapan  or  Capitan,  while  the  German 
emperors,  as  successors  of  Charlemagne,  claimed  feudal  homage 
from  the  republics  of  Naples,  Gaeta,  Amalfi,  and  Sorrento,  and 
the  Aglabite  Saracens  occupied  Sicily  and  Malta,  keeping  the 
Italian  sea-coast  cities  in  constant  dread  of  their  ever-renewed 
incursions.  This  state  of  affairs  was  completely  changed 
by  the  Normans,  who  made  their  first  appearance  in  Italy  in 
the  year  1006,  when  a  small  troop  of  Norman  knights,  on  their 
homeward  voyage  from  Jerusalem,  landed  at  Salerno,  and 
were  hospitably  received  by  Duke  Guaimar  III.  Soon  after,  a 
fleet  approached  the  coast,  bringing  a  host  of  Saracens,  who 
on  landing  encamped  under  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  demanded 
a  large  sum  of  money  for  its  ransom.  The  duke  being  too 
weak  to  fight,  would  have  submitted  as  on  former  occasions, 
bad  not  his  fiery  guests  volunteered  to  defend  him,  and  rushing 


XXX     Historical  Ha7idbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

upon  the  infidels,  who  had  given  themselves  up  to  rest  or 
revelry,  they  massacred  many,  and  put  the  remainder  to  flight. 
Grateful  for  this  succour,  Guaimar  vainly  offered  his  deliverers 
every  inducement  to  settle  in  his  dominions,  and  loaded  them 
with  rich  presents  when  they  emharked  for  France.  Ten  years 
later,  a  band  of  Norman  pilgrims  landed  on  the  Adriatic  coast 
on  their  way  to  the  shrine  of  the  Archangel  Michael  'at  Monte 
Gargano,  where  they  met  Melo,  a  noble  of  Lombard  extraction, 
who  had  taken  refuge  at  the  shrine  after  heading  a  late 
unsuccessful  revolt  against  the  Greek  Catapan.  Tempted  by 
their  love  of  adventure  and  hope  of  plunder,  they  enlisted 
under  his  banner,  and  helped  him  to  win  three  pitched  battles 
before  he  was  finally  defeated  at  Cannae ;  after  which,  Melo  ap- 
pealed for  aid  to  Henry  II.,  whose  interests,  like  his  own,  were 
imperilled  by  the  successes  of  the  Greeks,  bi-Jt  died  at  Bamberg 
while  pressing  his  suit.  On  the  reception  of  tidings  of  such 
aggravated  danger  to  his  imperial  rights  in  Italy  as  could  only 
be  averted  by  prompt  and  immediate  action,  H^nry  crossed 
the  Alps  at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  marched  through  Lom- 
bardy  and  the  Marca  d'  Ancona  into  Apulia,  and  taking  the 
Normans  into  his  pay  laid  siege  to  Troja,  which  shortly  after 
surrendered.  The  further  prosecution  of  his  designs  was 
frustrated  by  the  excessive  heat  of  the  climate,  under  which  his 
soldiers  sickened  and  died  like  sheep,  and  he  returned  to 
Germany,  leaving  the  Normans  to  continue  the  war  as  best 
they  could. 

Their  first  act  was  to  seize  upon  Aversa,  a  fortress  near 
Naples,  in  which  they  established  themselves  under  their 
leader  Rainulph,  whom  Conrad  the  Salic  soon  after  created 
Count  of  Aversa.  Constantly  strengthened  by  fresh  arrivals 
from  Normandy,  they  became  more  and  more  formidable  and 
aggressive,  and  three  years  after  they  had  been  joined  by 
William,  Drogan,  and  Humphrey,  sons  of  Tancred  de  Haute- 
ville,  they  seized  upon  Melfi,  and  successively  overran  the 
whole  of  Apulia  (1040-43),  leaving  only  Bari,  Brindisi,  Otranto, 
and  Tarcntum  in  the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  Their  conquests 
were  then  divided  between  twelve  Norman  counts  assembled 
at  Melfi,  which  was  set  apart  to  be  held  in  common  as  the 
seat  of  government. 

We  need  not  here  relate  the  subsequent  history  of  Apulia,  as 


Introduction. 


XXXI 


it  was  during  the  period  of  which  we  have  been  si^eaking  that 
the  churches  were  built,  whose  fa9ades  and  portals  furnish  us 
with  the  most  important  examples  of  sculpture.  They  consist 
of  bas-reliefs  in  the  lunettes,  and  upon  the  architraves  and  side- 
posts  of  the  doors,  representing  Scriptural  personages  or  scenes 
from  holy  writ  in  the  conventional  style  of  Byzantine  ivories, 
mosaics,  and  paintings,  and  of  rich  and  complicated  ornaments 
of  a  mixed  Oriental  and  classical  character,  skilfully  combined 
with  every  variety  of  animal  form,  in  relief  and  in  the  round. 

In  the  presence  of  these  different  elements  we  recognize  the 
united  influence  of  Greeks,  Saracens,  and  Normans  upon  the 
Italians,  who  while  they  made  use  of  early  Christian  and 
Mediaeval  symbolism,  clung  with  tenacity  to  those  classical 
ideas  whose  hold  upon  the  national  genius  was  never  lost. 
Let  us  see  how  and  to  what  extent  each  of  these  nations  and 
systems  worked  upon  Southern  Italy.  The  Byzantine  influence, 
which  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  political  and  com- 
mercial relations  between  the  governed  and  the  governors, 
and  by  the  presence  of  a  Greek  ruler  with  his  dependents,  was 
further  developed  by  the  artists  and  artisans  who  returned  from 
the  East  in  the  ranks  of  the  Crusaders,  bringing  with  them 
new  ideas  about  ornament  and  architecture,  derived  not  only 
from  Byzantium  but  also  from  the  cities  of  Syria,  which  as  far 
back  as  the  fifth  century  possessed  examples  of  a  peculiar  sys- 
tem of  ornament  derived  from  old  Greek  art,  modified  by 
Roman  and  Asiatic  influences.  Unlike  the  Byzantines,  who 
made  use  of  animal  forms  and  figures  in  their  stuff's  of  rich 
and  varied  patterns,  though  they  discarded  them  in  sculpture, 
the  Syrians  restricted  ornament  to  dentellated  leaves  of  a  con- 
ventional form  deeply  marked  and  sharply  cut  out,  combined 
with  geometrical  patterns  formed  by  the  intersection  of  circles 
or  of  straight  and  angular  lines.  The  Saracens,  who  succeeded 
the  Greeks  as  masters  of  Sicily  and  thence  acted  upon  the 
mainland,  decorated  their  buildings  with  ornaments  made  up 
of  plants,  leaves,  and  flowers,  as  they  were  forbidden  by  the 
Koran  to  represent  the  image  of  any  living  thing.  ^ 

The  Norman  element  in  Apulian  church-decoration  is  much 
more  difficult  to  define,  as  our  knowledge  of  it  is  more  vague. 
It  is  even  questionable  whether  the  Normans  possessed  any 
art  of  their  own  when  they  invaded  France  in  the  tenth  ceu- 


xxxil     Historical  Handbook  oj  Italian  Sculpture, 

tury.  The  little  sculpture  found  upon  their  oldest  buildings 
consists  of  clumsily  interlaced  lines  (entvelacs),  and  ot  animals 
biting  each  other,  analogous  in  character  to  those  common 
to  Celtic,  Anglo-Saxon,  Icelandic,  and  Scandinavian  art.* 

The  earliest  adaptations  of  natural  forms  to  architectural 
ornament  are  found  among  the  Egyptians,  who  decorated  the 
tympani,  friezes,  and  column-capitals  of  their  buildings  with 
the  lotus,  the  palm,  the  papyrus,  the  acanthus,  and  different 
species  of  water  plants ;  and  among  the  Persians,  who  laid  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms  under  contribution 
for  the  same  purpose  ;  but  there  is  this  cajDital  difference  be- 
tween Oriental  and  Christian  symbolism,  that  in  the  first 
natural  forms  are  represented  for  worship  as  symbolic  of  deities 
or  as  typical  of  natural  forces  and  phenomena,  while  in  the 
second  they  are  signs  of  a  hidden  religious  meaning,  and  as 
such  are  often  described  by  the  Church  Fathers,  Avho,  while 
regarding  all  created  things  as  witnesses  to  the  power  and 
intelligence  of  the  Supreme  Being,  considered  them  chiefly 
worthy  of  attention  in  so  far  as  they  could,  by  an  often  strained 
interpretation,  be  made  to  conduce  to  man's  moral  advance- 
ment. Frequently  incorrect  in  their  ideas  about  the  nature 
and  properties  of  animals,  they  did  not  seek  to  separate  the 
true  from  the  false,  since  as  St.  Augustine  remarks,  "  The 
all-important  object  for  us  is  to  consider  the  signification  of  a 
fact,  and  not  to  discuss  its  authenticity."  This  habit  of  look- 
ing for  a  symbol  in  every  created  thing  led  to  a  system  of 
mystical  zoology  contained  in  the  "  Physiologus  "  or  "  Bes- 
tiary," f  a  work  which   explains  the  now  forgotten  meaning  of 

*  Les  Normands  furent  d'habiles  constructeurs,  precision  dans 
I'appareil,  execution  soignee,  mais  absence  de  sculpture." — M.  Yiollet-le- 
Duc,  Entretiens  sur  V Architecture,  vol.  i.  pp.  227-280. 

t  The  rhysiologtis  is  a  popular  account  of  such  facts  in  natural  history 
as  were  best  adapted  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  early  Christians. 
Whether  it  is  the  title  of  a  treatise  composed  by  one  of  the  Church 
Fathers,  or  -whether  some  great  Greek  naturalist,  like  Aristotle  or 
Theophrastus,  is  designated  under  the  name  of  Physiologus,  is  uncertain 
(ibid.  pp.  18,  19).  The  subject-matter  of  the  Latin  and  French  Bestiaires 
and  Lapidaires  is  derived  from  Albertus  Magnus,  Vincent  de  Beauvais, 
Barthelemy  de  Glanvil,  and  the  Physiulogus  (ibid.  p.  27).  A  French  and 
Latin  version  of  the  Fhysiologus  is  given  in  the  second  and  third  volumes 
of  the  Melanges  d'Archeologie,  par  Ch.  Cahier  et  Arthur  Martin.  At 
p.  85  of  the  Introduction  to  this  work,  vol.  il,  it  is  stated  that  the  oldest 


Introduction.  xxxili 

many  of  the  strange  forms  carved  about  the  fa9ades  of 
Mediaeval  churches.  The  first  sentence  in  the  version  of  the 
Bestiary  made  by  Peter  of  Picardy,  clearly  sets  forth  the  object 
for  which  it  was  composed.  "  Here  commences  the  book 
which  is  called  'Bestiary,'  and  it  is  so  called  because  it  speaks 
of  the  nature  of  beasts ;  for  God  created  all  the  creatures  upon 
earth  for  man,  and  that  he  may  in  them  find  an  example  of 
faith  and  a  source  of  belief."  So  also  William  of  Normaudy 
tells  us,  that  "  all  the  examples  collected  in  the  book  are  in- 
tended for  the  amelioration  of  sinful  man  and  for  the  profit  of 
his  soul." 

The  MediiEval  sculptor  who  made  use  of  it,  was  probably 
not  animated  by  so  deliberate  a  purpose  as  the  learned  doctors 
of  the  Church,  for  he  dealt  only  with  the  sign,  and  left  its  inter- 
pretation to  them.  This  was  comparatively  easy  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  Church  when  symbolic  forms  were  few  and  simple, 
but  as  they  increased  in  number  and  variety,  it  became  more 
and  more  difficult  to  discover  in  many  objects  represented  about 
sacred  buildings  that  spiritual  meaning  which  could  alone 
justify  their  presence,  for  their  mystic  significance  had  been 
gradually  lost  sight  of,  and  even  before  the  seventh  century, 
when  the  permission  to  I'jpresent  Christ  and  the  Saints  and 
the  mysteries  of  the  Passion  gave  a  final  blow  to  art  symbolism, 
many  of  the  old  forms  were  used  only  because  they  were  well 
adapted  for  decorative  purposes. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  they  were  simply  regarded  as  orna- 
mental, and  as  such  were  denounced  by  St.  Bernard,  in  an 
eloquent  passage  against  extravagance  in  the  decoration  of 
churches,  "  whose  walls  glow  with  colour,  and  whose  stones  are 
covered  with  gold,  while  the  poor  are  in  want  and  go  naked." 
"  What,"  he  says,  "  is  the  use  of  those  absurd  monstrosities 
displayed  in  the  cloisters  before  the  reading  monks  ?  See  what 
deformed   beauty   and    what   beautiful    deformity.       Why   are 

prose  version  is  that  of  Philippe  de  Thaun,  a  T«^orman  troubadour  of  tho 
twelfth  century.  About  a  hundred  years  later  Guillaume  le  Normand 
rhymed  the  Bestiary,  and  about  the  same  time  a  clerk  of  Picardy  put,  it 
into  prose  in  the  Beauvoisin  dialect.  The  origin  of  the  Physiologus  is 
doubtful.  It  has  been  attributed  to  St.  John  Chrysostom  and  to  St. 
Ambrose.  There  are  several  MSS.  of  this  work  of  the  thirteenth 
century  in  the  Bibliothcque  Imperiale,  and  one  at  Brussels  of  the  tenth 
(iUd.  p.  99}. 


xxxiv    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

unclean  monkeys  and  savage  lions,  and  monstrous  centaurs  and 
semi-men,  and  spotted  tigers,  and  fighting  soldiers,  and  pipe- 
playing  hunters  represented  ?  You  may  see  there  many  bodies 
with  one  head,  and  one  body  with  many  heads.  Here  a 
quadruped  with  the  tail  of  a  serpent,  there  a  fish  with  the  head 
of  a  quadruped.  Here  a  beast  half  horse  and  half  goat,  there 
another  with  horns  and  a  horse's  body.  The  variety  of  form  is 
everywhere  so  gi-eat,  that  marbles  are  more  pleasant  reading 
than  manuscripts,  and  the  whole  day  is  spent  in  looking  at 
them  instead  of  in  meditating  upon  the  law  of  God."  * 

The  ground  plan  of  the  noble  Apulian  churches,  whose  orna- 
mental sculptures  we  have  endeavoured  to  characterize  and 
explain,  is  generally  that  of  the  Eoman  basilica,  and  their  style 
is  either  Eomanesque,  i.e.  debased  Roman — often  called  Lom- 
bard or  Norman  of  the  first  period  —  or  Gothic,  modified 
by  classical  influences,  also  called  Norman  of  the  second 
period.f 

Ages  before  these  stately  buildings  were  created,  nature  had 
hollowed  out  a  vast  cave,  near  the  rockv  summit  of  Monte 
Gargano,  which  was  to  become  one  of  the  most  famous  shrines 
in  the  world.  In  ancient  times,  a  Pagan  temple  stood  above 
it,  whose  priests  doubtless  used  it  for  oracular  purposes,  but 
its  existence  had  long  been  lost  sight  of,  when  one  day  at  the 
end  of  the  fifth  century  (says  the  legend)  a  shepherd  having 
shot  a  wild  bull  upon  the  mountain,  saw  his  arrow  fly  back  to 
him,  as  if  sent  by  an  invisible  hand.  Amazed  at  this  mys- 
terious occurrence,  he  sought  out  the  holy  Laurentius,  then 
Bishop  of  Sipontum,  who  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  after  three 
days  spent  there  in  fasting  and  prayer,  the  Archangel  Michael 
led  him  to  the  cave,  which  he  declared  henceforth  sacred  to 
himself  and  the  angels.  Within  it  stood  the  oriental  sign  of 
consecration — an  altar  covered  with  a  red  cloth — and  upon  this 
the  Bishop  celebrated  mass.     Crowds  of  Pilgrims  climb  the  steep 

*  Sandi  Bernardi  Opera,  Parisiis,  16P0,  vol.  i.  p.  538,  cL.  xii.  :  Luxum 
et  abusum  in  templiset  oratoriis  extruendis,  ornandis,  pingendis,  arguit. 

t  The  Norman  circular  style,  which  reached  its  height  in  the  eleventh 
century,  was  one  of  the  modifications  of  the  Eomanesque,  whose  parent 
stock  was  Eoman  architecture.  The  earliest  churches  built  in  Normandy 
and  England,  as  in  Apulia,  are  basiHcas  in  form.  Vide  Antiq.  of  Nor  ■ 
viandy,  J.  Britton,  1  vol.  fol.,  London,  1828 ;  and  ViolIet-le-Duc,  Entretiena 
sur  VArohitecture. 


Introduction.  xxxv 

mountain  path  on  the  anniversary  of  that  day  to  pray  in  the 
grotto.  Each  man  as  he  crosses  its  threshold,  shakes  one  of 
the  rings  pendant  from  its  venerable  bronze  gates,  which 
were  cast  at  Byzantium  eight  hundred  years  ago,  and  given  to 
the  church  by  one  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Pantaleone  from 
Amalfi.*  A  marble  "  cattedra"  of  the  twelfth  century,  supported 
upon  crouching  lions  of  the  Romanesque  type,  and  adorned 
with  rich  Arabic  ornament  and  with  a  small  bas-relief  of 
St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon,  is  the  only  object  of  artistic  inte- 
rest to  be  seen  in  the  grotto,  f 

More  than  five  hundred  years  after  its  consecration,  a  Greek 
bishop  named  Bisantius  \  founded  the  Cathedral  at  Bari,  which 
his  successor  Bishop  Nicolaus  completed. §  It  formerly  contained 
a  ciborium  made  by  Alfanus  da  Termoli,  an  artist  of  the  eleventh 
century,  whose  name  was  inscribed  upon  each  capital,  with  descrip- 
tive and  highly  laudatory  verses.  In  general  design  it  resembled 
the  still  existing  ciborium  in  the  neighbouring  church  of  San 
Niccolo,  which  was  erected  by  the  abbot  Eustachius  early  in  the 
twelfth  century.  The  eagles,  rams'  heads,  leaf  W'ork,  and  angels 
kneeling  upon  long  drooping  leaves,  about  the  capitals  of  the 

*  "Armilla  janua^,"  rings  of  iron  placed  uj«<«ii  church  facades,  and 
much  venerated  by  the  people  (Montfaucon,  Monarch,  frang.  p.  193 ; 
Lopez,  note  42,  p.  204,  II  Battistern  di  Parma). 

t  According  to  tradition  this  cattedra  was  made  in  the  days  of  the  holy 
St.  Laui-ence,  and  the  Emperor  Henry  II.  is  said  while  sitting  upon  it  to 
have  seen  a  vision  of  Christ  and  the  holy  angels.  The  outer  church  and 
adjacent  buildings,  as  well  as  the  Gothic  portal  at  the  head  of  the  long 
flight  of  steps  leading  down  to  the  Grotto,  belong  to  Charles  of  Anjou's 
time.  The  bas-relief  over  this  jDortal,  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  with 
Saints  Peter  and  Paul  and  a  kneeling  donor,  has  been  too  much  white- 
washed to  allow  of  any  judgment  upon  its  original  merits.  It  is  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  "  M.  Simon  de  Rao  .  .  .  (perhaps  Ragusa)."  The  bas- 
reliefs  of  Biblical  scenes  and  personages  upon  the  capitals  of  the  columns 
of  the  adjoining  baptistry,  are  also  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  exces- 
sively rude. 

X  Bisantius  is  evidently  a  patronymic.  The  bishop  is  said  to  have 
decorated  the  duomo  with  500  large  and  200  small  columns  brought  from 
Paros  for  the  purpose  (Ughelli,  op.  cit.  vol.  vii.  p.  603). 

§  The  duomo  was  consecrated  October  28th,  1035.  Archbishop  Eliaa 
(a.d.  1091)  discovered  the  bones  of  St.  Sabinus  under  the  old  altar,  where 
they  had  been  concealed  for  240  years.  According  to  a  tradition  men- 
tioned by  Ughelli,  these  relics  were  brought  to  Bari  by  Archbishop 
Angelarius,  Bishop  of  Canosa.  A.n.  850. 


xxxvi     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

columns  which  support  its  pyramidal  roof,  are  sculptured  with 
that  fineness  and  decision  of  stroke  peculiar  to  the  Apulian 
marble  worker,  who,  though  ignorant  of  anatomy,  treated  animal 
forms  as  boldly  as  those  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  whose 
structure  he  so  well  understood.  Nicolas,  Bishop  of  Myra  (a.d 
325),  the  titular  saint  of  the  church  in  which  this  ciborium* 
stands,  was  especially  renowned  as  a  destroyer  of  heathen 
temples  and  idols.  His  bones,  from  which  flowed  a  healing  oil 
of  miraculous  power,  were  brought  by  certain  merchants  from 
Antioch  to  Bari  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century, 
and  the  splendid  church  which  bears  his  name  was  founded  in 
the  year  1087.  Twenty-four  columns  with  rich  Byzantine 
capitals,  decorated  with  carved  leaf- work,  lions'  heads,  and  a 
great  variety  of  sharp,  clear-cut  ornaments,  support  the  vaulted 
roof  of  the  vast  crypt  where  his  remains  were  buried.  Hardly 
had  the  building  been  roofed  in  (1079),  when  it  became  the 
Rcene  of  a  great  Church-council,  held  by  Pope  Urban  II.  to 
denounce  the  errors  of  the  Greek  Church,  at  which  Anselmus, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
bishops  assisted.  The  marble  "  cattedra  "  in  the  choir  was  made 
in  commemoration  of  this  event.  Its  ssat  rests  upon  two  wild 
grotesque-looking  Arab  prisoners,  each  kneeling  on  one  knee, 
a  man  with  a  staff  in  his  hand,  and  a  lion  holding  a  man's 
head  in  his  paws.  Lions'  heads  are  introduced  below  the  foot- 
slab,  which,  like  the  other  slabs  and  panels  of  the  sides 
and  back  of  the  chair,  is  adorned  with  ornaments  of  elegact 
design. 

Bas-reliefs  of  Samson  and  the  lion,  and  other  Bible  subjects, 
lions  and  sirens,  vines  and  arabesques,  a  centaur,  a  man  carry- 
ing a  hare,  and  beasts  of  different  kinds  encircled  by  winding 
lines  which  spring  from  vases,  are  sculptured  upon  the 
fagade  and  about  the  portals  of  the  church,  while  a  sphinx  sits 
above  the  gable,  bulls  standing  upon  consoles  protrude  below 
the  cornice,  and  two  flying  angels  of  a  strongly  Byzantine 
character  fill  up  the  spandrils  of  the  portal-arch. 

The  animals  are  by  no  means  so  well  sculptured  or  so  nume- 
rous   as    those   on    the  exterior  of    the  cathedral  at   Troja, 

*  King  Eoger  II.,  who  was  crowned  King  of  Sicily  in  this  church  by 
the  antipope  Anacletus  in  1131,  is  represented  on  a  niello  plate  set  above 
the  arch  of  the  ciborium. 


Introchtdion.  xxxvii 

which  was  commenced  by  Bishop  Gerardus  in  1093,  and 
completed  by  Bishop  Gugliehnus  II.  Peopled  with  all  created 
things,  and  glowing  with  yellow  and  green  stones,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Sicilian  churches,  its  fagade  unites  the  sharp-cut, 
clear-line  sculpture  of  the  East  with  the  Polychromatic  de- 
coration of  the  Saracens.  A  cornice  richly  carved  with  heads 
of  men,  lions,  and  leaf-work  divides  it  into  two  parts.  The 
great  wheel  window  is  encircled  with  a  row  of  rudely  sculptured 
beasts,  and  surmounted  by  the  figure  of  a  man  seated  upon  the 
back  of  a  nondescript  animal.  Oxen,  elephants,  porcupines  and  , 
apes  protrude  from  the  wall  on  each  side  of  this  window,  and 
columns,  with  lions  above  their  capitals  and  at  their  bases,  sup- 
port the  plain  round  arch  above  it.  The  spaces  on  either  side 
of  the  great  central  arch  over  the  portal  are  enriched  with  a 
row  of  small  arches,  having  dentellated  archivolts  and  columns 
with  leaf-work  capitals.  Slabs  of  marble  covered  with  Arabic 
ornament,  and  rudely-chiselled  figures  in  relief  of  a  Byzantine 
type,  representing  Christ  enthroned  between  the  Virgin  and  St. 
John,  SS.  Secundinus  and  Eleutherius,  together  with  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Evangelists  in  medallions,  decorate  the  great  door- 
way, while  the  lunette  of  one  of  the  lateral  doors,  whose  side- 
posts  and  architrave  are  sculptured  with  ornaments,  is  filled 
by  a  bas-relief  of  Christ  treading  on  the  lion  and  the 
dragon,  and  two  rudely-carved  angels  of  a  Byzantine  type. 
Many  columns  with  varied  and  elaborate  capitals  divide  the 
nave  from  the  side  aisles  within  the  church,  and  furnish  another 
example  of  rudely  chiselled  heads  surrounded  by  rich  and 
tasteful  ornaments,  whose  patterns  are  intricate  but  never  con- 
fused in  line.  On  the  right-hand  side  of  the  nave  stands  an 
oblong  pulpit  of  the  twelfth  century  (1167),  decorated  with 
deep-cut,  flat-surfaced  ornaments,  and  supported  upon  columns 
whose  capitals  are  divided  by  volutes,  upon  one  of  which  sits  a 
bearded  figure  with  broad  nose  and  long  hair.  The  raised  work 
is  gilded,  and  relieved  against  a  green  back-ground.  An  eagle 
with  spread  wings,  holding  a  beast  in  his  talons  and  standing 
upon  a  human  head  supported  on  a  colonnette,  occupies  the 
centre  of  the  front  of  this  pulpit  under  the  reading-desk,  and  on 
the  end  towards  the  high  altar  there  is  a  very  curious  bas-relief 
of  a  lion,  with  foliated  body,  curling  hair,  and  staring  eyes,  who 
while  tearing  a  sheep  to  pieces,  is  himself  seized  by  a  sort  of 


xxxviii     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpttire* 

tiger-cat  who  has  mounted  on  his  hack  and  fixed  his  teeth  in 
his  flank.* 

The  churches  of  the  twelfth  century  hear  as  strong  marks  of 
Byzantine  influence,  as  those  of  the  eleventh  of  which  we  have 
been  speaking.  In  the  crypt  of  the  Cathedral  at  Otranto  (1160) 
for  instance,  some  of  the  capitals  of  the  columns  are  carved 
with  patterns  exactly  like  those  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople. 
So  also  the  three  figures  in  alto-relief  of  our  Lord,  the  Madonna, 
and  St.  John,  which  fill  the  Moorish  arch  over  the  great  portal 
of  San  Giovanni  in  Venere  (1200)  f  near  Lanciano,  are  Byzan- 
tine in  their  forms  and  draperies,  as  is  the  nimbus  about  our 
Lord's  head  and  the  ornament  upon  the  cattedra  on  which  He 
sits.  Some  of  the  leaves  and  ornaments  carved  upon  the 
capitals  of  the  columns  and  pilasters  which  flank  this  portal 
are  antique  in  character,  while  the  freer  and  less  conventional 
bas-reliefs  beyond  them  seem  to  be  Italian  works,  and  of  a 
later  date.  The  upper  relief  of  the  left-hand  series  represents 
two  peacocks  drinking  from  a  vase,  and  that  in  the  correspond- 
ing panel  below,  two  griffins  with  a  kneeling  figure  between 
them.  St.  John  the  Baptist,  attended  by  a  youth,  figures  with 
two  other  saints  in  one  of  the  upper  panels,  while  in  the  lower 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  meet  before  a  little  temple,  which  stands 
below  a  series  of  pointed  arches  separated  by  towers,  perhaps 
meant  to  indicate  those  of  Jerusalem.  The  upper  panel  of 
the  right  hand  series  contains  an  arabesque  ornament,  and  a 
relief  of  two  men  firing  arrows  at  a  bird.  Moses  with  the 
Tablets  of  the  Law,  and  Jonah,  as  typical  of  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion, and  St.  John  the  Baptist  with  the  Madonna  and  Child  as 
typical  of  the  New,  are  also  represented,  together  with  Daniel 
praying  between  two  lions,  and  Zacharias  with  a  censer  in  his 
hand  listening  to  the  angel  who  announces  to  him  the  birth  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist. 

Standing  in  the   quiet   country,   out  of   the  reach  of  those 

*  This  pulpit  was  removed  to  the  duomofrora  the  church  of  St.  Basilio. 
Its  inscri])tion  is  to  this  effect :  "  Anno  D"«  Incarnationis  MCLXVii.  regni 
vero  D">  BRI.W  Dei  gratia  Sicillae  et  ItalijB  regis  magnifici  olim  regis  W 
niii  Anno  iiii.     Mense  Mai  ii.     Factum  est  hoc  opus." 

t  It  derives  its  name  from  a  temple  dodicated  to  Venus  Conciliatrix, 
whose  site  it  occupies.  Although  traditionally  said  to  have  been  founded 
tinder  Justinian,  it  was  commenced  in  the  twelfth  century  by  the  abbot 
EaynalduB,  who  built  this  portal,  and  died  February  19,  1204. 


Introduction.  xxxix 

jarring  sights  and  sounds  which  mar  the  effect  of  the  noblest 
building  in  the  midst  of  a  busy  town,  this  church  remains  as 
it  was  centuries  ago,  save  those  scars  and  rents  which  time  has 
made  in  roof  and  parapet.  Sturdy  oaks  like  those  which  first 
saw  its  towers  rise  heavenward  still  shelter  it,  and  the  sea 
which  stretches  in  blue  immensity  below  the  hill  on  which  it 
stands,  is  the  same  Adriatic  whose  waves  broke  upon  the  coast 
when  the  first  stone  of  its  now  crumbling  walls  was  set  in  its 
appointed  place. 

To  the  north  of  San  Giovanni  in  Venere,  neai'  Chieti,  at  the 
base  of  Monte  Majella,  stands  San  Clemente  a  Casauria,  one  of 
the  most  ancient,  and  most  interesting  churches  in  this  part  of 
Italy.*  Until  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  (a.d.  854)  its 
site  was  occupied  by  a  small  church  dedicated  to  St.  Quirinus, 
which  the  Emperor  Louis  II.  destroyed  to  make  room  for  a 
church  and  monastery.  These  buildings  were  already  far 
advanced  a.d.  872,  when  the  emperor,  who  had  obtained  the  body 
of  St.  Clement  from  Pope  Hadrian  III.,  journeyed  from  Kome 
with  a  crowd  of  priests  and  devotees  to  escort  the  holy  relic 
to  its  new  resting-place,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  saint  and  to 
the  Holy  Trinity.  When  the  procession  reached  the  bank  of  the 
river  Pescara  it  could  not  j)roceed,  as  the  bridge  had  been  swept 
away  by  a  late  freshet.  Seeing  this  the  emperor  ordered  the 
body  of  St.  Clement  to  be  placed  on  the  back  of  a  mule,  and 
striking  the  beast  with  his  hand,  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "Let 
Clement  guide  you,"  and  lo  !  the  tumultuous  waves  became 
like  rocks  under  its  feet,  and  the  precious  burthen  was  conveyed 
safely  to  the  opposite  shore.  It  was  then  deposited  in  the 
church,  and  the  emperor  having  appointed  Eomanus  to  be  its 
first  Abbot,  presented  him  with  his  own  sceptre,  to  be  borne 
in  lieu  of  a  crozier  by  him  and  his  successors. 

Three  times  plundered  by  the  Saracens  in  the  first  two  cen- 
turies after  its  foundation,  the  churchf  was  restored  early  in  the 

*  All  the  circumstances  of  its  foundation  ai'e  related  in  the  Chr. 
Casauriense  (Muratori,  Script,  llev.  It.  vol.  ii.  pp.  769-780).  It  is  in  the 
commune  of  Castiglione,  olim  "  alia  Pescara,"  near  a  little  town  called 
Tor  de'  Passeri,  and  can  be  reached  either  from  Popoli  or  Chieti. 

t  The  Emperor  Louis  II.,  St.  Clement,  the  Abbot  Leonas,  and  his  suc- 
cessor the  Abbot  Joel,  were  represented  in  bronze  upon  the  panels  of  the 
now  almost  entirely  dilapidated  doors  of  the  church.  These  doors,  wliich 
must  have  been  cast  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  were  made  of 


xl     Historical  Handbook  of  Italiaii  Sctdphire-. 

twelfth  century  (1110),  by  the  Abbot  Grimoaldus,  who  con- 
structed the  crypt  and  adorned  it  with  paintings.  About  sixty 
years  later  it  was  almost  completely  rebuilt  on  a  much  more 
magnificent  scale  by  the  Abbot  Leonas,  who  added  to  it  the 
chapels  of  St.  Michael,  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and  tho 
Holy  Cross,  erected  the  fa9ade,  and  built  the  narthex.  The 
abbot  is  represented  in  the  lunette  of  the  great  portal,  kneeling 
before  St.  Clement  to  present  a  model  of  the  restored  church, 
whose  history  is  illustrated  in  a  series  of  reliefs  upon  the  archi- 
trave. They  represent  the  gift  of  Pope  Hadrian  to  the  Empe- 
ror, and  his  reception  at  the  door  of  the  church,  the  mule  with 
the  reliquary  on  its  back,  the  installation  of  the  Abbot  Romanus, 
and  the  purchase  of  the  island  on  which  the  church  is  built, 
in  a  stiff  conventional  Byzantine  style  which,  however  imper- 
fect, harmonizes  well  with  the  Romanesque  architecture  of  the 
building.  Rudely  sculptured  reliefs  of  the  distinguished  per- 
sons connected  with  its  history  cover  the  flat  spaces  between 
the  central  and  the  side  portals,  whose  lunettes  contain  alto- 
reliefs  of  the  Madonna  and  the  Archangel  Michael.  Among 
the  interesting  objects  inside  the  church  are  the  sarcophagus 
under  the  high  altar  which  contains  the  bones  of  St.  Clement ; 
the  terra-cotta  ciborium  above  it,  adorned  with  the  symbols  of 
the  Evangelists,  a  relief  of  the  Madonna,  some  fantastic  birds, 
and  a  repetition  of  the  historical  bas-reliefs  upon  the  architrave 
of  the  great  portal ;  the  paschal  candlestick,  a  round  shaft  of 
marble  with  an  ornate  Byzantine  capital  surmounted  by  a 
number  of  colonnettes  clustered  about  a  central  column  ;  and 
the  pulpit,  which  rests  upon  columns  with  carved  capitals,  and 
is  adorned  with  panels  filled  with  a  flat- surfaced  leaf  ornament 
sculptured  with  surprising  boldness.  The  inscription  upon  it 
warns  the  officiating  priest  to  beware  lest  his  voice  be  but  an 
empty  sound.* 

A  similar  inscription  upon  the  "  cattedra  "  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Canosa,  admonishes  the  Bishop,  if  he  would  hereafter  gain  an 

wood,  upon  which  bronze  plates  were  fastened  with  nails  after  the  old 
Greek  fashion.  They  were  divided  into  twelve  rows  by  horizontal  and 
vertical  bands,  each  containing  twelve  panels,  adorned  with  the  above- 
mentioned  portraits,  and  with  lions'  heads,  griffins,  crosses,  moons,  staM, 
&c.  (Schultz,  Of.  cit.  ii.  23-32.) 

*  "  Hie  qui  magna  canis,  fac,  ne  tua  vox  sit  inanis; 

MuiLum  se  fallit  mala  qui  fecit  et  bona  psallit."  ,  .        ; 


Introdziction.  xli 

eternal  throne,  to  be  that  which  he  would  seem  to  be,  to  make 
his  actions  tally  with  his  words,  so  that  while  giving  light  to 
others  he  may  not  himself  sit  in  darkness.*  The  cattedra, 
which  was  made  in  1080  for  Urso  the  Archbishop  of  Bari  and 
Canosa,  by  a  sculptor  named  Komoaldus,  rests  upon  the  shoulders 
of  two  richly  caparisoned  elephants  of  an  heraldic  type.  It 
has  leaf  ornaments,  inscriptions,  and  geometrical  patterns 
about  its  pointed  Gothic  back  and  side  posts  ;  sphinxes  and 
griffins  upon  its  side  panels  ;  eagles  with  red  painted  wings  and 
tails  upon  the  slab  below  its  seat ;  and  bearded  heads  upon  the 
end  of  its  front  slab.  The  pulpit  in  the  nave  is  of  a  later  date 
and  less  remarkable.  The  capitals  of  its  four  octagomil  columns 
are  sculptured  wdth  simple  leaf-work,  and  its  reading  desk  rests 
upon  an  eagle  standing  on  a  human  head.f 

The  Cathedral  was  founded  by  the  Norman  hero  Bohemund 
on  his  first  return  to  Italy  from  the  East,  and  the  adjoining 
Grave  chapel  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  mother  Albe- 
rada,  whom  Robert  Guiscard  repudiated  under  pretence  of  con- 
sanguinity, in  order  to  marry  Sigelgaita,  the  daughter  of 
Guaimalchus,  Duke  of  Salerno.  The  chapel  is  a  small  building, 
crowned  by  a  cupola,  with  an  octagonal  drum  pierced  by  round- 
headed  windows,  having  pilasters  upon  its  outer  wall  spanned  by 
round  arches,  whose  capitals  are  decorated  with  heads  and  leaf- 
work,  and  a  single  doorway  filled  with  bronze  gates  cast  by  an 
artist  from  Amalfi  named  Roger.  The  kneeling  and  standing 
figures  engraved  on  the  lower  panels,  whose  outlines  were  filled 
with  niello  long  since  removed,  are  absolutely  Byzantine  in 
stvle,  while  the  discs  above  them  are  Saracenic.  The  lower 
panel  to  the  left  contains  a  lion's  head  with  a  ring  pendent 
from  his  jaws.  Bohemund's  exploits  and  virtues  are  com- 
memorated in  Latin  inscriptions  upon  both  valves.  The 
multiple  influences   which   worked   upon    the  art  of  the  time 

*  "  Prajsul  ut  teterua  postliac  potiare  cathedra, 
Quod  vox  exterius,  res  ferat  interius. 
Quod  geris  in  specie,  da  (?),  gestes  lumen  ut  in  re  (?), 
Lumen  cum  prrestas,  lumine  ne  careas." 
f  The  style  of  the  "cattedra"  and  the  use  of  Leonine  verses  in  the  inscrip- 
tion, make  it  probable  that  the  Urso  mentioned  in  the  inscription  was  the 
Bishop  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  not  him  of  the  seventh,  who  waa 
also  Bishop  of  Canosa  (M.  de  Breholles,  of.  cit.  p.  42). 

d 


xlli      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sailptttre, 

are  far  less .  forcibly  represented  at  Canosa  than  at  Trani, 
where  the  magnificent  church  of  St.  Nicholas  the  Pilgrim, 
of  about  thirty  years'  later  date  than  Bohemund's  chapel, 
shows  them  more  fully  than  any  other  Apulian  building.* 
Its  plain,  massive  walls  are  Norman ;  one  of  the  windows 
in  the  bell  towerf  and  portions  of  the  ornament  are  Arabic  ; 
its  ground-plan  is  that  of  the  triple-naved  Roman  basilica  ;  its 
bronze  gates  are  Italo-Byzantine  ;  and  its  double-arched  portal, 
with  slender  columns  and  sculptured  pilasters  resting  on  human 
figures,  is  a  first-rate  example  of  Ptomanesque  architecture. 
The  flat  spaces  between  the  winding  lines  of  ornament  upon 
the  archiyolt  are  filled  with  sphinxes,  centaurs,  dogs,  and 
fantastic  animals,  such  as  a  creature  with  the  head  of  a  devil, 
the  body  and  legs  of  a  horse,  and  the  arms  of  a  man,  who  is 
striking  with  a  hatchet  at  a  species  of  tiger  cat,  who  has  seized 
his  fishlike  tail  in  his  teeth.  These  sculptures,  kept  within  the 
level  of  the  mouldings,  are  flat-surfaced,  full  of  life  and  action, 
and  well  proportioned.  An  equal  skill  in  combining  figures 
with  ornament  is  shown  in  the  reliefs  of  Jacob's  Dream,  the 
Sacrifice  of  Isaac,  &c.  &c.,  carved  on  either  side  of  the  door-posts 
on  the  left  hand,  but  the  figures  with  broad  faces  and  sharply 
marked  and  deeply  cut  draperies,  whose  folds  are  well  indicated 
and  arranged,  are  much  less  justly  proportioned.  Elephants 
with  small  columns  on  their  backs,  a  griffin  holding  a  human 
figure  in  his  claws,  bulls,  &c.  &c.,  protrude  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  fa9ade,  and  are  disposed  about  its  richly-adorned 
windows. 

The  sculptures  of  the  same  pariod  at  Trani,  about  the  portal 
of  the    Ognissanti  church,  are  ruder    in    execution  and  more 

*  Date  of  foundaticn  uncertain,  dedicated  in  1143,  but  not  then  finished, 
as  is  proved  by  the  will  of  a  woman  of  Trani  named  Eosa,  dated  1163, 
which  directed  that  in  case  of  the  death  of  her  children  a  thii-d  of  her 
y^roperty  should  be  given  to  aid  in  its  construction.  The  Saint  Nicholas 
io  whom  it  is  dedicated  was  a  Greek  pilgrim,  who  died  at  Trani  in  con- 
eequence  of  rough  usage,  a.d.  1094.  Persuaded  of  his  sanctity  by  the 
wounds  which  appeared  upon  his  corpse,  Archbishop  Byzantius  of  Trani 
caused  him  to  be  made  a  saint  by  Pope  Urban  II.  This  archbishop 
began  the  duomo  which  was  consecrated  under  his  successor,  Byzan- 
tius II.     Like  most  Apulian  churches,  it  is  a  pure  basilica. 

t  This  campanile  was  built  by  Nicolaus,  sacerdos  and  protomagister,  a 
dame  also  inscribed  upon  the  pulpit  in  the  duomo  at  Bitonto. 


Introduction.  xliii 

stifF  in  outline.  They  consist  of  leaves,  volutes,  angels  with 
Heating  haii-  and  pointed  wings,  women  with  snakes  hanging 
upon  their  breasts,  syrens,  centaurs,  a  long-bearded  violin-player, 
and  a  Madonna  with  a  kneeling  suppliant  and  an  angel. 

.A  few  other  Apulian  churches  of  the  twelfth  century  may 
here  be  mentioned,  such  as  the  Cathedral  at  Ortona  (1127), 
which  has  two  rude  bas-reliefs,  representing  Moses  receiving  the 
Tablets  of  the  Law,  and  St.  Peter  walking  on  the  waters, 
made  by  a  Magister  Eiccardus  in  the  thirteenth  century,  set 
into  the  wall  of  its  campanile.  The  Cathedral  at  Ruvo  has  a 
very  ornate  Gothic  facade,  and  a  richly  decorated  portal  with  a 
round  arch,  within  which  are  bas-reliefs  of  the  Paschal  Lamb, 
the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  Christ  and  the  Madonna,  with 
SS.  John,  Peter  and  Paul,  and  angels,  carved  in  a  hard,  rude 
style.  The  Cathedral  of  San  Valentinian  at  Bitonto,  one  of  the 
earliest  buildings  of  the  so-called  Norman  Gothic  style,  has  a 
Romanesque  portal  flanked  by  small  columns  resting  on  lions. 
The  lunette  is  filled  with  a  row  of  rudely  sculptured  figures,  de- 
creasing in  size  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  central  crucifix,  and 
the  architecture  is  decorated  with  small  reliefs  of  subjects  taken 
from  the  New  Testament.  The  roof  of  the  clii  r;h,  towards  the 
piazza,  is  crowned  with  an  arcade  of  rich  design,  whose  supporting 
columns  have  capitals  in  which  Saracenic  ornaments  and  Koman- 
esque  animals  are  combined  in  the  old  style  of  mixed  decoration. 

From  Apulian  churches,  let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to 
their  pulpits,  some  of  which  also  exhibit  an  extravagant  use  of 
form  and  colour.  The  most  remarkable  among  them  is  that  in 
Sia.  Maria  in  Lago,  at  Moscufo,  which  was  made  by  a  sculptor 
named  Nicodemus  in  1158.  The  body  of  the  pulpit,  raised 
high  in  the  air  upon  columns  spanned  by  arches  of  a  decidedly 
Moorish  type,  is  reached  by  a  staircase  decorated  with  reliefs 
representing  the  history  of  Jonah.  It  has  two  reading-desks, 
one  of  which  rests  upon  the  head  and  arms  of  an  angel  with 
white  and  green  wings,  red  hair  and  a  scarlet  robe,  and  the 
other  upon  an  eagle.  Below  these  figures,  respectively  symbolic 
of  SS.  Matthew  and  John  the  Evangelist,  are  the  winged  lion 
of  St.  Mark  and  the  Ox  of  St.  Luke,  coloured  with  bright  flat 
tints.  The  angles  of  the  pulpit  between  the  reading-desks  are 
decorated  with  twisted  columns,  having  little  nude  figures  climb- 
ing up  their  shafts  or  seated  at  their  bases,  and  the  flat  spaces 

d  2 


xliv     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

between  them  are  enriched  with  reliefs  of  men  fighting  with 
lions  and  bears,  and  with  delicately  sculptured  geometric  orna- 
ment. The  rich  leaf-work  about  the  cornice,  the  open  arcade 
below  it,  and  the  birds,  syrens,  griffins,  harpies  and  intersecting 
lines  in  the  spandrils  of  the  arches  below  the  body  of  the  pul- 
pit are  carved  wdth  the  care  and  skill  of  an  accomplished  work- 
man, but  the  figures  are  rude  and  clumsy.  The  round  staring 
eyes  of  the  angel  and  the  lion,  the  furrowed  draperies,  and 
the  gaudy  colours  freely  used  upon  every  part  of  the  work 
give  it  a  barbaric  aspect,  and  yet  it  is  so  well-proportioned 
and  so  systematically  planned  that  the  general  effect  is  not 
unpleasing. 

The  contemporary  pulpit  made  by  a  Magister  Acutus  at 
Pianella,  a  mountain  town  near  Moscufo,  is  far  Jess  elaborate  than 
that  at  Sta.  Maria  in  Lago.  Its  side  panels  are  adorned  with 
the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  in  relief,  and  the  reading  desk 
rests  upon  an  eagle  of  bizarre  aspect.  The  pulpit  at  San 
Pellino,  which  was  erected  by  Oderisius,  Bishop  of  Valva,  in 
1168,  has  panels  and  column  capitals  adorned  with  flat  ornament 
composed  of  interlaced  lines.  In  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Valentinian 
at  Bitonto  there  are  two  remarkable  pulpits,  one  of  which  is 
inscribed  with  the  name  of  Nicholaus  Sacerdos  et  Magister,  pro- 
bably the  same  person  who  built  the  campanile  of  the  cathedral 
at  Trani.  An  eagle  standing  upon  a  crouching  human  figure 
supports  the  reading  desk,  and  the  panels  are  filled  with  boldly 
carved  rosettes,  while  those  upon  the  staircase  contain  conven- 
tional looking  trees,  relieved  against  a  red  background,  with 
birds  sitting  upon  their  branches  and  nestling  in  their  leaves. 
The  ornaments  and  the  little  angel  on  the  front  are  well  pro- 
portioned and  carefully  worked,  and  when  compared  Avitli  the 
rudely  executed  bas-reliefs  of  Solomon  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
at  the  back  of  the  staircase,  illustrate  the  superiority  of  early 
Apulian  marble- work  to  that  of  a  later  period.  The  smaller 
pulpit  in  the  church  exemplifies  the  mixed  style  of  deco- 
ration which  we  have  so  often  noticed.  The  shafts  and  capitals 
of  its  columns  are  adorned  with  fruits,  flowers,  birds  and  beasts 
in  relief,  and  its  panels  are  filled  with  flat-surfaced  deep  cut 
Arabic  ornament  relieved  upon  a  mosaic  background.  Some 
excellent  marble-work  in  the  old  style  is  to  be  found  in  the  church 
of  S.  Maria  d'  Arbona,  at  Chieti,  where  the  Paschal  candlestick, 


Introduction.  xlv 

&  marble  shaft  wreathed  with  a  vine,  has  a  capital  of  charming 
design,  and  the  marble  tabernacle  near  it  is  decorated  with 
well  conceived  and  boldly  sculptured  ornament. 

Having  now  noticed  the  Apulian  sculptors  of  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries,  we  must  say  a  few  words  about  the  bronze  cas- 
ters, who  found  models  for  their  work  in  the  gates  cast  at  Constan- 
tinople by  Staurachios  between  1066  and  1087,  by  order  of   two 
citizens  of  Amalfi,  Mauro    and   his    sou    Pautaleone  III.,  who 
presented  them  to  the  churches  of  Amalfi,  Atrani,  Monte  Casino 
and  Monte  Gargano.     These  gates,  which  are  panelled  and  deco- 
rated with  Scripture  subjects  and  persons,  delineated  by  incised 
lines  filled  in  with  silver  and  with  red,  black  or  green  metallic 
pastes,  were  closely  imitated  by  Roger  of  Amalfi  in  the  already 
described  doors  of  the  Grave- chapel  of  Bohemund  at   Canosa, 
and  by  his  contemporary  Oderisius    of  Beneventum    in    the 
bronze  gates  of  the  great    portal  of  the  Cathedral    at    Troja, 
and  of    a  side    door  made  up  of    plain    bronze  panels,    upon 
which  the   bishops  of   Troja  are    represented   in   niello,    in  a 
thoroughly  Byzantine    style.      The  incised    figures    upon   the 
panels  of  the  great  gates  of  the  chief  portal  represent  Oderisius 
the  artist ;  Berardus  Count  of  Sangro,  to  whose   domain   Troja 
belonged ;    Christ  the  Judge,  enthroned  after  the  old  Byzantine 
type  upon  a  rainbow,  and  the  donor  Bishop  William  II.,  stand- 
ing between  two  plants  of  a  conventional  type.     Eight  of  the 
panels,  which  are   set   in   squares  formed  by  boldly-projecting 
ribs  with  a  quatrefoil  in  each  corner,  contain  lions'  heads  with 
rings  pendent  from  their  widely-extended  jaws,  and  two  are  deco- 
rated with  fantastic  dragons  holding  bell-shaped  knockers  between 
their  teeth.      These  boldly  and  vigorously  handled  accessories 
give  an  eftect  of  great  richness  and  variety.*     While  Oderisius 
of  Beneventum  closely  copied  the  Byzantines  in  style  and  mode 

*  The  coats  of  arms  in  the  third  row,  of  Cardinal  Scipio  Eebiba,  Bishop 
of  Troja  from  June  19  to  September  4,  1560,  and  of  his  nephew,  Prosper 
Rebiba,  in  whose  favour  he  resigned  his  see,  were  cast  by  Maestro  Cola 
Donato  Mascella  or  da  Mascella,  now  Strongli  in  Calabria,  in  1573.  The 
inscription  gives  the  artist's  name,  and  states  that  Prosper  Eebiba  caused 
the  doors,  which  were  in  a  ruinous  condition,  to  be  repaired.  The  iiatrou 
saints  of  Troja— Secandinus,  Paulianus,  and  Eleutherius— are  also  by- 
Cola  Donate.  The  two  cardinals  are  mentioned  by  Ughelli  (i.  1347). 
Another  part  of  the  doors  was  restored  in  1690  by  Antonio  de  Sangro, 
who  was  Bishop  of  Troja  from  1675  to  1694 


xlvi     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sndpture. 

of  work,  Barisanus  of  Trani  (1160—1179)  freed  himself  from  such 
trammels  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  gates  which  he  cast  for  the 
cathedrals  at  Ravello,  Moureale,  and  Trani.*  Many  of  the 
subjects  treated  are  identical,  but  whilst  the  panels  of  the  Ravello 
gates  are  decorated  with  rosettes  at  each  corner,  and  enframed 
in  arabesque  borders,  those  at  Trani  are  enriched  with  small 
medallions  containing  miniature  repetitions  of  the  large  sub- 
jects, executed  with  great  delicacy  and  skill.  In  all,  the  work  is 
clear  and  smooth,  and  there  is  a  life  in  the  figures  unknown  to 
Greek  art  of  the  time.  St.  Eustace,  for  instance,  draped  like 
an  Arab  sheikh,  sits  upon  a  fiery  though  heavy-limbed  steed, 
and  the  two  Saracens  fighting  with  clubs  and  cross-barred  shields 
are  vivacious  and  resolute.  Even  in  a  composition  so  Byzan- 
tine as  the  Deposition,  the  artist  shows  feeling  and  attains 
some  freedom  of  line.  Those  who  know  the  bronze  doors  at 
Pisa,  Monreale,  Verona,  and  Beneventum  will  agree  with  us  in 
considering  them  inferior  to  the  work  of  Barisanus,  who  was 
in  fact  the  best  bronze  caster  in  Italy  before  Andrea  Pisano. 

The  period  at  which  we  have  now  arrived  is  that  of  the 
Emperor  Frederic  II.,  who  affected  the  style  and  attributes  of 
the  Roman  emperors  in  his  portraits,  statues,  medallions  and 
effigies,  and  whose  taste  in  art  was  formed  upon  classical 
models.!  The  splendour  of  his  resources,  and  the  great  ability 
of  the  master  architects  of  his  time,  ai-e  set  before  us  in  the 
Gothic  castle  known  as  Castel  del  Monte,  which  he  erected  in 
1244  upon  the  summit  of  a  high  mountain  between  Ruvo 
and  Andria,  called  by  the  Normans  "  le  Haut  Mont  "  and  the 
*'  Mont  Hardi." 

*  The  name  of  Barisanus  is  given  only  on  the  doors  at  Monreale, 
though  the  Due  de  Luynes  {o-p.  cit.  p.  43)  thinks  that  the  mutilated 
legend  in  one  of  the  panels  of  those  at  Trani,  "  .  .  .  vs  .  .  .  NSis,"  may 
mean  Barisanus  Tranensis,  and  that  the  person  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  a 
saint  above  it  may  be  the  artist  himself.  The  inscriptions  in  the  Trani 
door,  which  is  the  oldest,  are  in  Greek ;  those  at  Eavello  in  Latin.  There 
are  thirty-two  panels  in  the  Trani  door,  and  fifty-four  in  those  at 
Ravello. 

t  Frederic  and  Manfred  are  both  represented  as  Caesars  in  medalliona 
upon  the  side  pilasters  of  the  portal  of  the  church  of  the  Porta  Santa  at 
Andria.  They  are  probably  copies  from  originals  of  their  time,  as  the 
portal  is  Renaissance  in  style,  and  consequently  of  a  much  later  date. 
The  church  was  commenced  by  Conrad  in  1253,  and  finished  by  Manfred 
in  1265. 


Introductzojt.  xlvii 

Tenanted  only  by  robbers  or  wandering  shepherds,  it  hag 
gi-eatly  suffered  of  late  years,  and  its  single  portal,  with  a  double 
Gothic  arch  and  cannellated  pilasters,  above  whose  Corinthian 
capitals  stand  the  Suabian  lions,  has  been  much  marred  and 
defaced.  Through  it  the  traveller  enters  the  castle,  which  from 
its  great  size,  its  peculiar  distribution,  the  mysterious  solitudes 
of  its  vaulted  chambers  and  winding  stairways,  and  its  associa- 
tion with  one  of  the  most  romantic  and  interesting  persons  in 
history,  is  eminently  calculated  to  affect  the  imagination. 
Involuntarily  the  feeling  creeps  over  the  mind  that  the 
great  Frederic  is  waiting  here,  like  Barbarossa  at  Kyffhauser, 
until  he  be  permitted  to  issue  forth  in  pomp  to  resume  the 
reins  of  empire.^ 

The  edifice  is  as  beautiful  as  its  general  plan  is  ingenious  and 
its  masonry  perfect.  The  same  high  finish  and  admirable 
taste  is  visible  everywhere  ;  in  the  windows,  with  their  small 
columns  of  rose-coloured  marble  and  their  deep  embrasures; 
in  the  tall  Gothic  fireplaces  ;  and  in  the  ribbed  and  vaulted 
ceilings,  with  their  rosettes  and  corbels,  some  of  which  are 
adorned  with  seated  figures  sculptured  in  the  rude  style  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Besides  the  two  heads  of  a  later  and  better 
period,  carved  upon  the  corbels  above  a  staircase  in  one  of  the 
towers,  the  only  other  piece  of  sculpture  in  the  castle  is  an 
almost  totally  effaced  bas-relief  of  a  woman  kneeling  before  a 
chief,  with  a  retinue  of  armed  men. 

The  church  and  monastery  of  St.  Leonardo,  between  Foggia 
and  Sipontum  are  classed  among  the  buildings  raised  by  Frede- 
ric to  recompense  the  devotion  of  the  Teutonic  Knights,  but 
the  sculptures  about  its  mutilated  portal  are  too  much  like 
those  of  the  eleventh  century  at  Trani  and  Bari,  to  make  this 
credible.  The  monastery  is  now  a  farm-house,  and  the  church 
is  desecrated  and  fast  falling  into  ruin,  but  the  portal-sculptures, 
where  they  have  not  been  broken  away  by  violence,  are  in  a 
state  of  tolerable  preservation.  Three  arches,  the  inner  one 
being  round  and  the  upper  two  pointed,  rise  above  the  portal. 
Below  the  lamb  sculptured  within  the  pointed  arch,  is  a  rosette, 

*  January  29th,  a.d.  1240,  Frederic  II.  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Justiciary 
of  the  Capitanate  concerning  the  building  of  the  castle;  "Cum  pro 
castro,  quod  apud  Sanctani  Mariam  de  Monte  fieri  volumus  per  ter,"  etc. 
The  emperor  appears  to  have  erected  it  in  1244  (Schultz,  op.  cit.  i.  1(34). 


xlvili     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

like  that  on  the  pulpit  at  San  Clemente  on  one  side  of  which 
stands  a  saint,  and  on  the  other  a  monk  with  a  chain  and  a 
book.  Griffins  protrude  from  the  wall  above  the  capitals  of 
the  round  columns  which  support  this  arch,  at  whose  bases 
stand  lions,  one  of  whom  is  devouring  an  Arab  prisoner.  The 
adoration  of  the  Magi  is  carved  upon  one  of  the  capitals,  and 
St.  Joseph  seated  on  an  ass  and  guided  by  an  angel  on  the 
other.  The  archivolt  of  the  round  arch  is  enriched  with  a 
winding  ornament  ol  great  beaut}',  into  which  angels  and 
fantastic  animals  are  introduced,  while  the  pilasters  on 
either  side  of  the  doorway  are  sculptured  with  birds  and 
human  figures. 

Of  the  Emperor  Frederic's  palace  at  Luccra,  which  was  deco- 
rated Avith  statues  brought  from  Naples  upon  men's  shoulders, 
no  vestiges  remain,  and  none  exist  of  that  at  Jb'oggia,  except  an 
arch,  below  which  are  sculptured  the  imperial  eagles  and 
several  inscriptions  relating  to  its  construction."' 

The  Gothic  Cathedral  in  the  picturesque  hill  city  of  Atri, 
which  was  built  during  Conrad's  reign,  has  no  sculptures  of 
his  time.  The  figures  of  Christ,  the  Madonna,  and  saints  over 
its  portal  were  made  by  Maestro  Eaymondo  de'  Podio  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century.  There  is  also  but  little 
sculpture  about  the  Cathedral  at  Lucera,  which  I^ng  Charles  II. 
founded  to  commemorate  the  expulsion  or  forced  conversion  of 
the  Saracens  who  had  been  established  there  by  Frederic  II. 
Its  Gothic  portal  is  surmounted  by  a  small  group  of  St.  George 
and  the  Dragon,  and  the  lunette  is  filled  with  an  alto-relief  of 
the  Madonna  and  Child  seated  upon  a  throne  supported  by 
lions.  Inside,  the  church  offers  nothing  of  interest  but  the 
mutilated  statue  of  its  founder. 

The  last  great  Apulian  building  which  we  have  occasion  to 
mention,  is  a  triple-naved  basilica  at  Bitetto,  dedicated  to  St. 
Michael.      The  fourteenth-century  bas-reliefs  about  its  faQade, 

*  *'  Compalatii  ITeapolitani  inveniant  homines  qui  eas  salubriter  super 
collum  suum  usque  Luceram  portant." — Regesta  (cite  par  M.  de  Breholles, 
Mon.  et  Hist.  p.  76).  Kington,  Life  of  Frederic  II.,  vol.  ii.  p.  176,  says 
the  statues  were  brought  by  sea  to  Naples,  and  probably  came  from  Pisa. 
The  same  writer,  at  p.  314,  says  that  in  124'2  Frederic  "ravaged  the 
country  round  Rome,  but  withdrew  to  Melfi  in  August,  cari-ying  off  from 
Grotta  Ferrata  the  brazen  statues  of  a  man  and  a  cow  which  poured 
forth  water.     These  were  meant  to  adorn  Lucera." 


Introduction.  xHx 

representing  scenes  from  the  history  of  our  Lord,  show  that 
Apulian  art,  having  reached  its  terna  where  the  Northern 
schools  began,  had  then  fallen  into  a  complete  state  of  de- 
cadence. 

Single  statues  were  rarely  made  in  any  part  of  Italy  before 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  in  Apulia,  if  we  except  a  pleasing 
figure  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  the 
church  of  St.  Andrea  at  Barletta,  not  at  all.  The  colossal 
bronze  statue  of  the  Emperor  Heraclius,  which  stands  before 
the  guard-house  in  the  same  Apulian  town,  is  a  Byzantine  work 
of  the  seventh  century.  The  military  dress  and  accoutrements 
are  Roman,  but  the  head  is  Byzantine,  and  the  diadem  which 
encircles  it  is  such  as  was  worn  by  the  early  Greek  emperors.* 
The  noble  and  serene  expression  of  the  face  (see  tailpiece) 
answers  well  to  the  idea  which  we  form  of  this  valorous 
servant  of  Christ,  this  pioneer  of  the  Crusaders,  who  invaded 
Persia  a.d.  622,  to  regain  the  Cross  which  Schaharbarz,  the 
cruel  ally  of  Chosroes,  had  carried  ofi"  to  Ctesiphon,  and  re- 
turning with  it  to  Jerusalem,  mounted  the  steep  ascent  of 
Calvary  bearing  it  like  our  Lord  upon  his  shoulders. 

There  seems  no  doubt  that  the  ship  in  which  the  statue  was 
brought  from  Constantinople  was  wrecked  off  the  coast  of 
Barletta,  leaving  it  stranded,  like  some  huge  leviathan,  upon  the 
beach,  where  it  remained  until  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it 
was  brought  to  the  town  in  a  mutilated  state,  and  set  up  in  the 
Piazza,  May  19,  1491,  after  the  legs,  the  cross,  and  the  ball 
which  lies  in  the  hollow  of  the  left  hand,  had  been  restored  by 
a  Neapolitan  bronze-caster,  named  Albanus  Fabius.  One 
account  states  that  Heraclius  himself  had  the  statue  cast  by  a 
Greek  artist  named  Polyphobus,  and  sent  it  to  Monte  Gargano 
as  an  offering  to  the  shrine  of  the  Archangel  Michael ;  another, 
which  wears  a  much  greater  air  of  probability,  affirms  that  the 
Venetians  brought  it  away  from  Constantinople,  where  it  had 
been  set  up  to  commemorate  the  triumphal  entrance  of  the 

*  According  to  the  Chronicon  Pascale,  Constantine  the  Great  first 
wore  a  diadem  of  pearls  on  May  11th,  a..d.  330.  Constans  I.  is  repre- 
sented upon  coins  wearing  a  diadem  made  of  two  rows  of  pearls  with 
pendant  bands.  Julian,  360-363,  and  Jovian,  363-364,  wear  exactly  such 
a  coronet  as  described  in  the  text,  on  coins  of  the  time  (Schultz,  Denk' 
mdler  der  Kunst,  i.  148). 


1         Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptttre, 

emperor  on  his  return  from  Persia,  mounted  on  a  car  drawn  by 
four  white  elephants,  and  preceded  by  the  rescued  Cross.* 

Apulia  is  scarcely  richer  in  tombs  than  in  statues.  Those 
of  the  Norman  heroes  in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at 
Venosa  are  among  the  few  of  historical  interest. 

Eobert  Guiscard  was  buried  there  near  his  brothers,  William 
of  the  Iron  Arm,  Count  Drogo,  Count  Humphrey,  and  his 
repudiated  wife  Alberada,  who  lies  in  a  plain  sarcophagus 
standing  under  a  Gothic  gable  supported  upon  columns.  None 
of  the  Hohenstauftens  were  buried  in  Apulia,  although  Frederic 
and  his  three  sous,  Henry,  Conrad,  and  Manfred,  all  died  there. 
Iolanthe,f  and  Isabella,  j  the  Emperor's  wives,  were  buried  in 
the  crypt  of  the  duomo  at  Andria,  where  a  few  finely-worked 
bits  of  marble,  and  some  small  columns  belonging  to  their 
monuments  may  still  be  seen.  Iving  Charles  II.  of  Anjou 
was  buried  at  Lucera  in  a  sarcophagus,  whose  sepulchral  effigy 
placed  near  the  great  portal  represents  the  king  dressed 
in  a  suit  of  chain  mail,  half  concealed  under  his  surcoat.  The 
hair  is  cut  across  the  forehead,  and  falls  in  long  straight  locks 
upon  the  shoulders.  The  hands  are  crossed,  and  the  feet  rest 
upon  small  dogs. 

The  monuments  of  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  with 
this  single  exception,  are  to  be  found  in  the  church  of  Sta. 
Chiara  at  Naples.  They  are  all  Pisan,  or  of  the  Pisano-Neapoli- 
tan  Gothic  school,  and  will  be  described  in  the  division  of  our 
subject  to  which  they  belong.  The  kingdom  of  Naples,  unlike 
Apulia,  contains  few  examples  of  an  earlier  period,  and  Naples 
itself  has  no  sculpture  older  than  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 

•  Amedee  Thierry,  lies  Fils  et  Successeurs  d'Attila.  Giovanni  Yillani, 
1st.  Flor.,  says  this  statue  is  a  portrait  of  the  Lombard  King  Eraco  or 
Rachi  (704-749),  to  whom  he  erroneously  ascribes  the  defeat  of  Chosrocs 
and  the  rescue  of  the  Cross  ;  evidently  confounding  the  name  of  Eracbio 
with  that  of  Eraclio.  Setting  aside  the  costume,  which  is  not  at  all  like 
that  of  a  Lombard  king,  such  a  statue  would  never  have  been  erected  iu 
the  eighth  century  at  Barletta  in  preference  to  such  important  towns  as 
Bari,  Capua,  or  Salerno,  as  it  was  then  a  mere  tower  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  travellers  journeying  between  Trani  and  Canna?  (Giannone,  i.  257, 
ed.  Ven.  1766). 

t  Daughter  of  Walter  de  Brienne,  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  mother  of 
Conrad. 

X  Daughter  of  King  John  of  England, 


Introduction. 


li 


century,  excepting  some  Byzantine-looking  pulpit  bas-reliefs  in 
the  chapel  of  San  Giovanni  in  Fonte  adjoining  the  chapel. 
Their  subjects,  taken  from  the  history  of  Samson  and  the  lives 
of  SS.  Joseph,  George  and  Januarius,  are  treated  in  the  style 
familiar  to  us  in  ivory  reliquaries  and  diptychs.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  Naples  there  are  various  early  works  of  art 
of  much  greater  interest  than  any  to  be  found  in  the  city  itself, 
some  of  which  we  have  already  mentioned,  as  for  instance  the 
Byzantine  bronze  gates  at  Amalfi,  where  there  is  a  holy  water 
basin  given  by  the  Pantaleones,  father  and  son,  and  those  at 
Kavello  cast  by  Barisanus  of  Trani.  Those  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Salerno,  cast  at  Constantinople  1085—1121,  were  given  by  the 
noble  Salernitan,  Landolph  Botromile  and  his  wife  Guinsala. 
The  chief  ornaments  of  this  church  are  its  two  pulpits  of  the 
twelfth  century  (1153-1181),  erected  by  the  Archbishop  Eomo- 
aldus  II.  The  panels  of  the  larger  and  finer  pulpit  are  enriched 
with  flowers  and  birds  in  porphyry,  serpentine  and  gilded  glass 
mosaics,  its  frieze  is  supported  by  little  nude  marble  figures 
standing  above  the  capitals  of  the  columns,  and  the  angles  of 
the  body  of  the  pulpit  are  faced  by  statuettes  of  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah,  and  the  symbols  of  SS.  John  and  Matthew. 


lii      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpttire. 


SECTION   III. 

SCULPTURE   IN   CENTRAL  ITALY  BEFORE   THE 

REVIVAL. 

The  Roman  States  and  Tuscany. — Rome. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  to  the  early  part  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  Rome  suffered  by  internal  feuds,  by  the  attacks 
of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.  (1082),  and  of  Robert  Guiscard 
(1084),  who  did  her  even  more  harm  than  the  Goths  or  Vandals 

Jiad  done,  and  finally  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  popes  to  Avignon 
(1305).  Her  great  nobles,  the 
Frangipani,  the  Colonna,  and  the 
Orsini,  turned  her  ruins  into 
fortresses;  robbers  ravaged  the 
Campagna  and  plundered  the 
pilgrims  journeying  to  the 
shrines  of  the  Apostles ;  grass 
;rew  in  her  streets,  and  vines 
overran  her  fallen  temples;  her 
inhabitants  were  decimated  by 
the  pestilence,  and  her  towers 
and  basilicas  were  shattered  by 
the  earthquake.  The  return  of 
Pope  Urban  V.  (1367),  brought 
no  immediate  remedy,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  election  of  Pope 
Martin  V.  (1420)  by  the  Council  of  Constance  put  an  end 
to  the  schism  which  had  long  divided  the  Church,  that  a  new 
era  of  prosperity  opened  for  Rome.  During  all  these  long 
centuries  of  decline  the  arts  were  neglected,  and  only  from 
time  to  time  was  a  spasmodic  activity  brought  about  by 
exceptional  causes.     Thus  in  the  days  of  Charlemagne,  fallen 


'EU. 


Introduction. 


liii 


edifices  were  raised,  churches  were  adorned  with  mosaics, 
and  new  buildings  were  erected  by  the  Popes  Hadrian  I. 
(771-795)  and  Leo  III.  (795-81G).  (Many  works  which  still 
exist,  or  are  known  to  have  existed,  show  that  the  use  of 
the  chisel  was  never  completely  abandoned.  Among  these  are 
several  sarcophagi  in  the  Lateran  museum,  and  that  of  the 
Prefect  Junius  Bassus  (359)  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter's,  works 
of  the  fourth  century ;  the  bronze  statue  of  the  titular  saint 
which  was  cast  in  the  fifth  century  by  order  of  Pope  Leo  I.^'  in 
commemoration  of  the  miraculous  delivery  of  Rome  from  Attila 
through  the  intercession  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul ;  and  the  statue 
of  St.  Hippolytus  in  the  Lateran  museum,  known  by  the  form 
of  the  letters  in  his  Paschal  calendar  upon  the  side  of  the 
**  cattedra  "f  to  be  a  work  of  the  sixth  century. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  atrium  of  St.  Peter's  contained 
BO  many  Papal 
tombs  that  it  was 
called  the  portico 
of  the  Popes.  \ 
Many  of  them 
were  destroyed 
when  the  vener- 
able basilica  was 
pulled  down  by 
Julius  II.  and 
his  successors, 
but  greatly  as  we  deplore  their  loss  we  must  not  exaggerate  its 
artistic  importance,  for  they  were  either  simple  slabs  bearing  in- 
scriptions, or  such  sarcophagi  as  we  see  in  the  Lateran  museum, 
without  sepulchral  effigies,  adorned  with  bas-reliefs  repre- 
senting scenes  from  Holy  Writ.j  A  few  inscriptions  and  sarco- 
phagi in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter's,  are  all  that  remain  of  these 
monumental    splendours.       The    earliest     Papal    inscription 


^  iiL 


*  Torrigio,  Bac.  Grot.  Vat.  pp.  126-27,  and  Platner,  Bescli.  Boms,  ii. 
177.  Some  critics  believe  this  figure  to  be  an  antique  with  restored  head 
and  hands. 

t  Besch.  Boms,  ii.  329.  The  upper  portion  of  this  statue  is  a  modern 
restoration. 

X  Before  the  year  408  the  popes  were  buried  in  the  catacombs  ;  then  in 
the  portico  of  St.  Peter,     ilhid.  vol.  i) 


liv      Historical  Handbook  of  Ilalian  Sculpture. 

among  them  is  that  of  Pope  Boniface  lY.  (608-615);  and  the 
earliest  Papal  tomb  an  old  Christian  sarcophagus  with  Scrip- 
tural bas-reliefs,  which  contains  the  bones  of  Pope  Gregory  V.* 
(996-999).  The  next  is  an  immense  Ptoman  sarcophagus  of 
oriental  granite,  with  masks  carved  upon  its  lid  and  festooned 
bucranes  upon  its  sides,  in  which  lies  the  one  English  pope, 
Adrian  IV.  (1154-1159),  Nicholas  Breakspear,  who  hung  and 
burned  the  Italian  martyr  Arnoldo  da  Brescia,  and  crowned 
Frederic  Barbarossa. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  bodies  of  the  popes  who  were 
especially  venerated  were  transferred  from  the  vestibule  to  the 
interior  of  the  basilica.  Those  first  so  honoured  were  Leo 
the  Great  (432-440),  to  whom  a  magnificent  monument  was 
erected  in  the  vestibule  of  the  sacristy ;  Gregory  the  Great 
(688) ;  and  Adrian  I.,  the  friend  of  Charlemagne.  Side  by 
side  with  these  successors  of  St.  Peter  lay  Honorius  (423)  and 
his  nieces,  Maria  and  Thermantia,  daughters  of  Stilicon ; 
Otho  II.,  surnamed  the  Great  (983)  ;f  Helpis  (524),  the  first 
wife  of  the  ill-fated  Boetius ;  Casdwalla,  king  of  the  West- 
Saxons,  who  became  a  Christian  and  when  hardly  thirty-years 
old  abdicated  his  throne  to  journey  by  sea  and  by  land  to 
Rome  to  be  baptised  by  Pope  Sergius  on  the  vigil  of  Easter, 
and  died,  "  candidus  inter  oves  Christi,"  before  he  had  laid 
aside  his  white  catechumenal  robes  (688) ;    and  Pope  Honorius 

IV.  (1285-1287),  whose  sepulchral  effigy  was  removed  to  the 
Savelli  chapel  at  Ara  Coeli  when  the  old  basilica  was  destroyed, 
and  placed  upon  the  sarcophagus  of  his  mother  Tana  Aldobran- 
desca. 

The  statue  of  his  successor,  Nicholas  IV.  (1288—1292), 
who  was  buried  at  the  Lateran,  may  be  seen  in  the  retro- 
choir.  He  kneels  with  clasped  hands,  looking  upward,  and 
wears  a  tall  pointed  tiara  upon  his  head,  and  shoes  with  soles 
of  extreme  thickness  upon  his  feet.  This  rude  image  is  one  of 
the  few  monumental   relics  which  escaped  destruction  in  the 

*  8ee  Tav.  xlvi.  Bac.  Vat.  Bas.  Crypt.  Dionysius,  vol.  i.,  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  sarcophagus  at  vol.  i.  p.  115 ;  also,  Torrigio,  Sac.  Grot.  Vat. 
p.  349. 

t  The  sarcophagus  ia  cow  in  the  court  of  the  Qnirinal  palace.  Its  lid 
is  used  as  a  baptismal  font  at  St.  Peter's.     The  emperor's  bones  wero 

V.  ailed  -op  in  the  crypt  by  Pope  Paul  Y.  a.d.  1609. 


IntrodiLction.  Iv 

early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  the  Lateran  wau 
twice  well  nigh  consumed  by  fire.* 

^0  Roman  sculptors  are  mentioned  in  inscriptions  from  the 
fifth  to  the  ninth  century,  but  one  of  the  tenth,  at  Santa  Pras- 
sede,  records  the  name  of  Magister  Christianus  as  having  made 
the  monument  of  a  Cardinal  Peter,  who  assisted  at  the  Lateran 
Council  of  the  year  904.  Many  names  of  marble-workers  who 
lived  after  this  date  are  mentioned  in  inscriptions  upon  arches, 
friezes,  monuments,  pulpits  and  bishops'  thrones  in  Pioman 
churches,  and  in  those  of  towns  within  a  range  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles  of  the  city.  Among  these  names  we  may  mention  those  of 
Giovanni  and  Guide,  inscribed  upon  the  architrave  of  the  ciboriura 
of  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  di  Castello,  at  Corneto  (1060)  ;  f 
of  a  second  Giovanni,  with  his  father  Paulus,  and  his  brothers 
Peter,  Angelo,  and  Sasso,  upon  the  architrave  of  the  ciborium,  at 
San  Lorenzo  "  extra  muros  "  at  Rome  ;|  and  of  Nicholas,  grand- 
son of  Paul  and  son  of  Angelo,  upon  the  paschal  candlestick 
at  St.  Paul's  (1148)  (sec  tail-piece),  which  consists  of  a  round 
column  of  marble  about  eighteen  feet  in  height,  resting  upon 
a  quadrangular  base,  with  sphinx-like  animals  at  the  corners. 
The  figures  in  relief    upon  the  shaft  are    short,   clumsy  and 

*  The  two  rudely-sculptured  figures  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul,  in  the 
retro-choir,  some  architectural  fragments  in  the  beautiful  cloister,  parts 
of  the  tomb  of  a  Milanese  count,  m.  1287,  with  portions  of  those  of 
Antonio  de  Claribus,  m.  1274,  and  of  Gerardus  Blancus,  m.  1302,  in  the 
side  aisles,  belong  to  these  monuments. 

f  This  church  was  founded  a.d.  1121  when  Calixtus  II.  was  pope  and 
Uenry  II.  emperor,  and  dedicated  in  1208  by  Innocent  III.  The 
ciborium,  which  is  dated  1060,  i.e.  sixty  years  before  the  churcli  was 
founded,  must,  says  Promis,  op.  cit.,  have  been  brought  from  some  other 
building  and  set  up  there.  Its  inscription  is  :  "  Virginis  .  ara  .  pie  .  sic  .  e. 
decorata.  Marie  .  que  genuit  XRM.  Tanto  sub  TPR  scriptu,  anno 
milleno  vr.  et  ageno;"  to  which  Gaye,  Kunsthlatt,  No.  61,  a.d.  1839, 
article  on  Promis,  adds  : 

"  Octo  super  rursus  fuit  et  prior  optimus  sursus. 
Jobs,  et  Guitto  magistri  hoc  opus  fecerunt." 

J  "  Joh'^s.  Petrus.  Angl's  et  Sasso.  filii  Pauli  marmor.  Hui.  opis  magistri 
fuer.  ann.  mcxlviii.  ego  Hugo  humilis  Abs.  Hoc  opus  fieri  fecit."  The 
two  last  names  of  the  brothers  have  been  read  as  Anglus  English,  and 
b'assone  Saxon,  an  interpretation  which  is  regarded  as  doubtful  by  Didron. 
{See  Le  Moyea  Age,  Ann.  Arch.)  Gaye  in  his  article  on  Promis  says 
that  the  father  Paulus  is  the  same  whose  name  was  found  by  De  Witt 
wpon  a  grave-slab  in  San  Giovanni  di  Terentino, 


Ivi      Historical  Handbook  of  lialia^t  Sculptitre. 

rudely  sculptured,  with  staring  and  inexpressive  eyes  marked  by 
round  holes  drilled  into  the  marble.*  The  name  oi  its  author 
occurs  again  in  an  inscription  belonging  to  the  church  of  Saint 
Bartolomeo,  on  the  "insula  Tiberina,"f  and  with  that  of  his 
father  in  the  cathedral  at  Sutri  (1170).  Another  supposed 
grandson  of  Paolo  is  the  Petrus  Amabilis  who  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  the  sculjDtor  of  a  pulpit  at  San  Vittorino  near 
Aquila(1197).  I  The  attempt  to  follow  these  marble-workers  from 
place  to  place  and  identify  them  is  difficult,  and  often  leads 
to  conflicting  results.  The  multiplicity  of  Pioman  Peters  is 
especially  puzzling,  for  besides  the  two  already  spoken  of,  a 
third  is  mentioned  in  inscriptions  at  Kieti  (1252-1283),  a 
fourth  at  Alba  Fucense  (1225),  and  a  fifth  is  said  to  have  gone 
to  England  with  Abbot  Wai-e  (1207)  to  make  the  shrine  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  at  Westminster  Abbey.  §  This  Peter 
le  Orfever,  as  he  is  called  in  English  records  of  the  time,  and 
his  companion  Odericus  ||  belonged  to  the  Eoman  Cosmati  who 

*  The  artist's  name  with  that  of  his  otherwise  unknown  companion  ig 
thus  inscribed  npon  it:  "Ego  Niconaus  [sic]  de  Angilo  [sic]  cum  Petro 
Fassa  de  Tito  hoc  opus  coplevi." 

t  "  Nicholaus  de  Angelo  fecit  hoc  opus." 

X  Gaye,  op.  cit.,  identifies  the  Petrus  of  San  Yittorino,  1197,  with  him 
of  Rieti,  1252-1283;  while  Promis  considers  the  Peter  of  San  Yittorino, 
1197,  to  be  identical  with  him  of  Alba  Fucense,  1225.  It  seems  more 
natural  to  believe  the  Peter  of  San  Lorenzo,  1140,  to  be  one  and  same  as 
the  Peter  of  San  Yittorino,  1197,  and  to  make  a  second  Peter  out  of  the 
three  mentioned  at  Alba,  1225,  Rieti,  1252-83,  and  England,  1267.  For 
a  mention  of  the  latter  see  Scott's  Westvainster  Ahhey,  second  ed.  pp. 
129,  133. 

§  Abbot  Ware  went  to  Rome  to  be  consecrated  by  Pope  Urban  lY., 
in  1258,  and  remained  there  for  two  years.  That  Abbot  Ware  brought 
workmen  and  porphyry  stones  with  him  on  his  return  to  England  is 
mentioned  by  Weaver  and  confirmed  by  his  epitaph:  "Abbas  Riccardus 
de  Ware  qui  requiescit.  Hie  portat  lapides  quos  hie  portavit  ab  Vrhe." 
{Fold.  p.  134-.)  Rome  was  always  called  "  Urbs  "  in  the  thirteenth  century 
"  the  city  "  par  excellence. 

II  Odericus  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  a  Petrus  Oderigius  or  Oderigi 
of  the  preceding  century,  whose  name  is  inscribed  upon  a  sarcophagus  in 
which  Roger  Count  of  Calabria  and  Sicily,  m.  1101,  was  buried  in  the 
abbey  of  Santa  Trinita  at  Mileto  in  South  Calabria.  This  sarcophagus 
was  removed  to  the  piazza  of  the  town  after  the  earthquake  of  1795,  and 
thence  to  the  museum  at  Naples.  It  is  adorned  with  rudely-sculptured 
figures  of  a  man  and  a  woman  and  two  crosses  at  each  end  and  spirsl 


Introduction.  Ivii 

oi'igiuated  the  system  of  decorative  architecture  wliicli  bears 
their  name  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  Succes- 
sive generations  of  this  family  of  artists  worked  at  Rome  and 
in  its  neighbourhood  during  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  enriching  many  churches  with  charming  examples  of 
their  skill  and  taste.  The  appellation  of  "  arte  marmoris  periti," 
which  was  applied  generally  to  Eoman  Mediaeval  sculptors,  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  them,  since  they  decorated  their 
tabernacles,  pulpits,  &c.  &c.,  with  mosaics  and  discs  made  of 
porphyry,  serpentine,  giallo  and  rosso  antico,  and  many  coloured 
marbles,  to  obtain  which  precious  materials  they  despoiled 
old  buildings,  cut  up  beautiful  columns,  and  destroyed  rich 
pavements.  Their  early  works  which  are  remarkable  for  an 
organic  lightness  of  structure,  an  absence  of  caprice  or  extrava- 
gance in  ornament  and  a  scrupulous  subordination  of  decora- 
tion to  the  architectural  unit,*  are  examples  of  that  "  perfect 
harmony  between  the  end  and  the  means,"  which  has  been 
given  as  a  definition  of  style.  These  qualities  are  conspicuous 
in  the  fine  facade  of  the  Cathedral  at  Civita  Castellana ;  in  the 
exquisite  cloisters  of  St.  Paul's  and  the  Lateran  at  Rome ;  in 
the  portico  and  pulpit  of  San  Lorenzo  ;  and  in  the  cloisters  of 
Santa  Scolastica  at  Subiaco. 

More  Cosmatesque  work  of  the  first  period  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  church  of  San  Pietro  d'  Alba  at  Alba  Fucense,  near  the  site 
of  the  old  Marsian  city  of  Alba,  in  the  Abruzzi.  The  Andrea, 
Gualterius  Morronto  and  Petrus,']'  whose  names  are  inscribed 
upon  its  choir  parapet  ("septum  marmoreum"),  and  the 
Giovanni  and  Andrea  upon  its  pulpit,  j  were  all  Roman 
marble- workers  of  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
as  was  the  Nicolaus  who  made  the  pulpit    in   the   Cathedral 

columns.      The  following  inscription^  upon  it  records  the  name  of  the 
deceased  count  and  the  artist  who  made  the  sarcophagus — 

"Hoc  sepulchrum  fecit  Petrus  Oderisius,  magister  Komauus,  in 
memoriam  Rogerii  comitis  Calabrise  et  Sicilia3." 

*  Architettura  Cosmatesca,  di  Camillo  Bonito,  p.  16. 

+  This  Petrus  is  perhaps  identical  with  the  artist  who  made  the  pulpit 
ot  S.  Vittorino,  near  Aquila,  and  the  Giovanni  with  the  marble-worker 
at  Corneto  mentioned  at  p.  Iv. 

X  "  Abbas  Oderisius  fieri  fecit.  Magister  Gualterius  cum  Moronto  et 
Petrus  fecit  hoc  opus.     Andreas  magister  Romanus  fecit  hoc  opus."    {Seo 


Iviii     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpture, 

at  Fondi,*  and  worked  witli  Nicolaus,  son  of  Rainuccius,f  and 
Rainerius,  son  of  Giovanni  from  Perugia,  |  upon  the  facade  of 
Santa  Maria  di  Castello  at  Corneto  (1208).  The  pulpit  in  this 
church,  by  Giovanni  di  Guido,  who  is  probably  identical  with  him 
of  Alba,  is  entered  by  a  double  staircase  flanked  by  crouching 
lions  of  a  very  rudimentary  type.  Its  semicircular  front  is 
formed  of  three  slabs,  separated  from  each  other  by  columns 
whose  capitals  are  adorned  with  rudely-carved  birds  and  leaf- 
work,  on  the  central  slab  an  eagle  with  outspread  wings 
hovering  above  a  plant  which  springs  from  a  vase  with  dolphin- 
shaped  handles,  is  sculptured  in  a  much  better  style,  and  of  a 
later  date  than  the  pulpit,  i^  Donnaincasa,  an  artist  of  the  Cos- 
mati  school,  adorned  the  white  marble  pavement  of  this  church 
with  discs  and  strips  of  serpentine,  porphyry  and  giallo  antico, 
in  imitation  of  the  Roman  Opus  Alexandrinum. 

Toscanella,  not  many  miles  distant  from  Corneto,  has  two 
very  interesting  churches,  San  Pietro  and  Sta.  Maria,  whose 
sculptured  facades,  pulpits  and  tabernacles  are  in  all  probability 
Roman  work.  San  Pietro  was  founded  as  early  as  the  ninth  or 
tenth  century,  but  from  the  remarkable  variety  of  its  parts  we 
may  conjecture  that  it  was  not  completed  till  a  much  later 
period.  Its  facade  offers  a  unique  example  in  this  region  of  that 
fantastic  system  of  decoration 'which  distinguishes  Apulian  church 
facades,  employed  here  however  much  less  systematically  and 

Febonius,  Hist.  Marsorum,  lib.  3  ;  Promis,  op.  cit.  p.  12 ;  Scbultz,  op.  cit, 
p.  83.)     Upon  the  pulpit  is  inscribed — 

"  Civis  Romanus  doctissimus  arte  Jobs 
Cui  collega  Bonus  Andreas  detulit  onus. 
Hoc  opus  excelsum  struxerunt  mente  periti 
Nobilis  et  prudens  Oderisius  abfuit  Abbas." 
*  "Tabnla  marmoreis  vitreis  dixtincta  [si'c] 
Doctoi-is  studio  sic  est  erecta  Johnis 
Romano  genitos  cognomine  Nicolao." 
t  "  Nicolanus  Rainucii  magister  Romanus  fecit"  is  inscribed  upon  the 
capital  of  the  column  which  divides  the  window  over  the  portal. 
X  "  Rainerius.  Thos.  Perusinus  "  is  inscribed  upon  the  archivolt. 
§  Made  for  the  Prior  Angelas  in  1208.     The  same  name  is  inscribed 
on  the  architrave  of  the  ciborium — 

«  AD  •  MCCVEI  •  MAG  •  T  •  DNI  •  INNCENT  •  PP  •  III  •  Ego 
•  Angel  ■  per  "  Hui  '  Eccle  '  hoc  '  op  '  nitid  *  auro  '  et  *  mar- 
more  •  diverse  *  fieri  •  fecit  •  per  •  manus  "  Johis  "  Guittonia  ' 
civis  •  R  •  M  •  N." 


Introduction.  Hx 

with  far  less  teclinical  skill.  The  ox-like  animals  standinfi^ 
upon  consoles  resting  on  Griffins,  remind  us  of  those  which 
protrude  from  the  fa9ade-wall  of  the  cathedral  at  Troja,  which 
however  presents  no  such  animated  picture  to  the  eye  as  this  at 
Toscanella,  with  its  dragons  pursuing  hares,  and  its  huge 
monster  with  a  hideous  head  like  an  Indian  idol,  and  arms 
entwined  with  snakes.  The  date  of  this  strange  work  is  not 
precisely  known,  hut  in  all  probability  it  nearly  coincides  with 
that  of  the  ciborium  inside  the  church,  which  bears  the  name 
of  Petrus,  a  priest  who  lived  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century 
(1093). 

The  sculptures  of  the  facade  of  the  neighbouring  church  of 
Sta.  Maria  appear  to  belong  to  about  the  same  period,  though 
they  are  much  less  extravagant.  The  bas-reliefs  of  the 
Madonna  and  Child,  Abraham's  journey,  and  the  Sacrifice  of 
Isaac  in  the  lunette  over  the  central  door ;  the  two  figures  in 
alto-relief  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  set  against  the  door-posts  ; 
the  human  figures,  horses,  and  fantastic  animals  introduced 
into  the  flat  spaces ;  and  the  monsters  and  lions  in  the  frieze 
above  the  capitals,  and  at  the  bases  of  the  large  columns  on 
either  side  of  the  door,  differ  little  from  other  rude  works  of 
their  land  and  period.  The  church  contains  a  pulpit  resting 
upon  columns,  whose  sides  are  covered  with  squares,  oblongs, 
and  interlaced  patterns,  and  whose  projecting  reading  desk  is  sup- 
ported on  a  rudely-carved  figure  in  alto-relief.  The  capitals  of 
the  columns  which  divide  the  nave  from  the  side  aisles,  are 
covered  with  carved  leaf- work,  animals  and  ornaments, 
sculptured  in  the  rude  style  of  the  ninth  or  tenth  century.* 

It  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  that  sculpture 
which  in  the  Roman  states,  as  elsewhere  in  Italy,  had  been  eccle- 
siastical and  architectural,  was  employed  in  a  single  instance 
in  a  secular  and  monumental  form,  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  an  historical  personage.  King  Charles  of  Anjou.  When 
this  "Nero  of  the  Middle  Ages  "  as  he  has  been  well  called,f 
came  to  Rome  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his  age  to  be  invested 
with  the  senatorial  dignity,  the  Pioman  senate  decreed  that 
his  life-size   statue    should   be  sculptured    and   set   up  upon 

*  Campanari,  op.  cit.  i.  125,  says  the  church,  was  founded  in  the  eighth 
century.     He  thinks  the  sculptures  not  anterior  to  the  tentli. 
t  Geschiehte  der  Stadt  Rom,  p.  361. 


Ix  Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

tlie  Capitoline,  This  was  done,  and  the  result  is  of  no  commou 
interest,  for  the  statue,  which  stands  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Sena- 
torial Palace,  is  not  only  the  portrait  of  one  of  the  most  noted 
men  in  history,  hut  also  the  only  Mediaeval  portrait  statue  of 
any  importance  in  Italy.  It  represents  the  "  Gothic  plun- 
derer"  in  a  long  tunic  and  mantle,  with  a  crown  on  his  head,  and 
a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  sitting  upon  a  throne-chair  flanked  by 
lions.  The  peculiar  shape  of  the  head,  and  the  long  nose 
which  Villani  mentions  *  as  a  marked  feature  in  the  King's 
face,  leave  no  doubt  that  the  sculptor,  although  deficient  in  the 
higher  qualities  of  his  art,  was  at  least  true  to  nature  to  the 
extent  of  his  ability. 

With  the  departure  of  the  popes  from  Rome  (1306),  all  activity 
in  art  ceased,  and  so  completely  was  this  the  case  with  sculpture, 
that  we  meet  with  the  name  of  but  one  Eoman  sculptor  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  Marcus  Romanus  (1317),  whose  only  known 
work  is  a  statue  of  St.  Simeon  the  Pi'ophet,  behind  the  high 
altar  of  his  church  at  Yenice.  In  the  dark  tomb-like  recess 
where  it  lies,  the  face  wears  a  dignified  air,  and  the  figure  is 
expressive,  though  rudely  sculptured  and  defective  in  its  pro- 
portions. 

The  reader  will  see  by  the  foregoing  pages  that  sculpture  of 
the  time  under  consideration  is  but  poorly  represented  at  Rome 
and  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  this  is  the  case  through- 
out the  states  and  cities  ruled  by  the  Popes  before  the  uni- 
fication of  Italy.  At  Volterra  there  is  a  pulpit  of  the  year  1194 
in  the  Cathedral,  and  at  Viterbo  one  papal  tomb,  that  of 
Hadrian  V.  (1276)  in  the  church  of  San  Francesco. 

Bologna. 

This  city  contains  but  little  early  sculpture,  and  but  scant 
records  of  early  sculptors.  A  curious  old  terra-cotta  pulpit  at 
S.  Stefano,  adorned  with  rude  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  and 
four  stone  crosses  in  the  basilica  at  St.  Petronius,  are  the  only 
marbles  anterior  to  the  fourteenth  century  which  we  find  there. 
The  date  of  the  pulpit  is  unknown,  and  that  of  the  crosses  un- 
certain. Two  of  them  are  probably  of  the  eight  or  ninth 
century,  and  the  others  posterior  to  it,  though  tradition  says  that 

•  Villani,  Istorie  Florentine,  lib.  vii.  ch.  i.  p.  225. 


Introduction.  1 


XI 


they  were  erected  near  the  old  gates  of  the  city  by  St.  Petronius, 
Bishop  of  Bologna,  in  the  fifth  century.  One  of  the  four  is  par- 
ticularly interesting  on  account  of  its  sculptures,  and  because 
one  of  its  inscriptions  records  the  names  of  the  Petrus  Albericus 
and  his  father  who  made  them.  At  the  back  Christ  appears  in  a 
mandorla,  supported  b}'  the  three  Archangels,  Michael,  Gabriel, 
and  Eaphael,  holding  the  book  of  the  new  law  open  upon  his  knee, 
and  giving  the  benediction  with  his  right  hand.  Upon  the  front, 
Christ  crucified  holds  this  simple  and  touching  dialogue  with  his 
mother  :  "  My  son,"  she  says  to  him;  and  he,"  What,  mother?" 
— Q.  "  Are  you  God  ?  "—A.  "  I  am."— Q.  "  Why  do  you 
hang  (upon  the  Cross)?" — A.  "  That  mankind  may  not 
perish."  Besides  the  Petrus  Albericus  and  his  father  who 
carved  this  cross,  we  know  the  names  of  a  few  other  early 
Bolognese  sculptors  such  as  Daniele,  surnamed  II  Sarcofagaio, 
(524),'"  Pdnghieri  or  Piinghiero,  who  worked  in  the  Holy  Land, 
(1110),f  Ventura  dei  Lamberti,  both  architect  and  sculptor, 
who  flourished  between  1197  and  1230  ;|  Alberto  or  Albertini 
who  also  lived  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  Manno,  gold- 
smith and  painter,§  who  made  a  very  curious  colossal  statue  of 
Pope  Boniface  VIII. ,  now  in  the  university,  out  of  beaten  plates 
of  metal  fastened  together  with  nails.  This  statue  was  erected 
to  the  pope  during  his  lifetime  (1301)  by  the  Bolognese,  out  of 
gratitude  for  the  decision  he  had  given  against  the  Modenese  in 
a  dispute  between  them  concerning  the  castles  of  Bazzano  am? 
Sarignano.  The  eyes  are  staring  and  inexpressive,  the  head 
wears  a  plain  mitre,  and  the  stiff  figure  is  robed  in  a  long  vest- 
ment. Resting  one  hand  upon  his  breast,  the  Pope  slightly 
bends  the  fingers  of  the  other  in  sign  of  benediction. 

*  The  Daniele  da  Eavenna  mentioned  by  Zani,  Tine.  Met.,  is  perhaps 
the  same  person. 

t  Ghirardacci,  Delia  -Historia  di  Bologna  (Bologna,  1696),  vol.  i.  lib.  ii. 
p.  63.     See  also  Zani,  Enc.  Met.  xv.  331,  and  xvi.  72,  182. 

X  "  Henrico  Vescovo  di  Bologna  fece  fare  la  porta  della  chiesa  verso 
qnella  medesima  parte  (al  mezzogiorno)  di  prezioso  marnio  e  la  orno 
di  varie  e  belle  figure  fatte  da  Ventura  scultore  in  quel  tempo,  archi- 
tetto  e  scultore  famosissimo." — Ghirardacci,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  lib.  v.  j?.  132. 

§  Baldi  cited  in  the  Felsina  Pittrice,  i.  25,  says  that  a  picture  of  the 
Madonna  and  Child  by  Manno  dated  1260  existed  in  the  old  Palazzo  della 
Binda,  and  that  he  himself  had  a  capricious  and  diligently-drawn  Massacre 
of  the  Innocents  by  Manno  in  his  possession. 


Ixii      Historical  Handbook  oj  Italian  SctUpture, 

Ravenna. 

Ravenna  is  esjDecially  interesting  for  the  early  Christian 
mosaics  with  which  its  great  churches  are  adorned,  but  it  does 
not  abound  in  marbles  of  any  period.  Some  sarcophagi  are  to 
be  seen,  both  in  its  streets  and  in  its  churches,  as  in  the  sacristy 
of  the  Cathedral,  where  the  cattedra  of  Bishop  Maximin  of 
the  sixth  century  is  also  preserved ;  at  S.  Apolliuare  in  Classe, 
where  there  is  an  altar  of  the  ninth  century  and  the  fragments 
of  the  cattedra  of  St.  Damian  of  the  eighth  century ;  at  S. 
Francesco,  where  there  is  an  early  Christian  altar  ;  at  S.  Vitale, 
and  at  S.  Maria  in  Porto,  which  contains  a  Byzantine  bas-relief 
of  the  Madonna.  None  of  these  objects  call  for  special  descrip- 
tion as  they  differ  in  no  respect  from  others  of  their  time  and 
class  elsewhere  described. 

Ancona. 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Ciriacus  consists  of  two  superposed 
churches,  the  upper  of  the  eleventh  century,  whose  facade, 
erected  about  1200,  is  decorated  with  figures  in  relief  of  SS. 
Lorenzo,  Liberio  Palagda,  Stephano,  and  Ciriacus,  and  the 
lower  of  the  ninth  century.  This  contains  a  richly  sculptured 
sarcophagus,  and  fragments  of  early  marble  work.  The  facade 
of  S.  Maria  di  Piazza,  a  church  of  the  tenth  century,  is  a  work 
of  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth.  The  capriciously  conceived 
sculptures  about  it  show  the  influence  of  the  neighbouring 
Apulian  churches,  which,  as  we  have  said,  were  erected  for  the 
most  part  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier, 

Tuscany. 

The  course  of  our  history  now  leads  us  to  Tuscany,  the 
richest  of  all  Italian  districts  in  sculpture  from  the  thirteenth 
to  the  seventeenth  centuries,  and  the  poorest  in  Pre-Pievival 
work.  The  oldest  works  at  Pisa,  Pistoja,  Lucca  and  Florence, 
belong  to  the  twelfth  century,  when  new  forms  of  portal- 
building  gave  opportunity  for  much  stone  carving.  We  know 
the  names  of  many  Pisan  artists  of  this  time,  but  one  of  whom, 
Bonanno,  worked  in  the  Byzantine  style.  He  it  was  who  built 
the  Leaning  Tower  in  1174,^  and  cast  the  bronze  reliefs  upon 

*■  la  tKis  work  he  was  assisted  by  a  M°.  Gnglielmo,  who,  Milanesi 


Introdiiciioii. 


h 


XllI 


the  so-called  Porta  di  San  Eanieri  of  the  Cathedral,  as  well  as 
those  upon  the  doors  of  the  Cathedral  of  Monreale  near 
Palermo.  These  doors  are  contemporary  with  those  at  Trani 
and  Ravello  hy  Barisanus,  who  was  his  superior  both  as  bronze- 
caster  and  artist.  Bj'zantinism  seems  to  have  died  out  in 
Tuscany  with  Bonanno,  for  we  find  no  trace  of  it  in  the  stone 
reliefs  of  his  contemporaries,  whose  clumsily  modelled,  ill-dis- 
posed reliefs  of  Bible  stories  are  not  slavish  imitations,  how- 
ever rude  and  imperfect.  The  most  notable  among  them  are 
an  Adoration  of  the  Magi  on 

the     architrave   of  the  i)ortal  ""~"  — — - 

of  S.  Andrea  at  Pistoja,  a  Last 
Supper  upon  that  of  San 
Giovanni,  and  the  reliefs  upon 
the  pulpit  of  S.  Michele  at 
Groppoli  by  Gruamonte  of 
Pisa  (1166),  the  Christ  and 
twelve  Apostles,  and  two 
clumsy  angels  over  the  door- 
way of  S.  Bartolomeo  at  Pis- 
toja by  Rudolfinus  (1167),  the 
font  at  San  Casciano  near  Pisa 
(1180),  and  a  miracle  of  St. 
Nicholas  over  one  of  the  side 
doors  of  S.  Salvator  at  Lucca 
by  Biduinus,  the  portal  of  S. 
Andrea  at  Pistoja  by  Euricus, 
and  the  font  in  San  Frediano 
at  Lucca  by  Bonamicus,  who 
sculptured  a  bas-relief  of  Christ  in  Glory,  with  David  and 
the  Evangelists,  now  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.  Works 
of  the  same  period  exist  at  and  near  many  Tuscan  towns, 
such  as  the  Old  Testament  reliefs  upon  the  portal  architraves 
of  Santa  Mustiola  de'  Torri  near  Siena,  the  Birth  of  Christ 
and  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi  in  the  chapel  of  San  Ansano 
in  the   Cathedral,  the  reliefs   upon  the  lower  portion  of  the 

says,  was  perhaps  a  Pisan,  and  certainly  an  Italian,  He  identifies  hiro 
with  a  Guglielmo,  who  in  1165  was  head  master  of  the  Cathedral  a1 
Pica,  and  sculptor  of  the  pulpit  in  that  church,  prior  to  that  made  bj 
Giovanni  Pisano.    {Se'i  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  27i,  note ) 


J.Q 


l:'i?i:'!!!l!i!.il!i!i 


Ixiv       Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

fa9adeof  San  Martino  at  Lucca  (1204),  those  about  the  portal  of 
the  Pieve  at  Arezzo  by  Marchionne  (1216),  and  others  by  anony- 
mous sculptors  about  the  architrave  and  side  posts  of  the  eastern 
portal  of  the  Baptistry  at  Pi^a  (after  1200),  representing  Christ's 
descent  into  Hell,  &c.  &c.  The  pulpits  of  San  Bartolomeo 
at  Pistoja  by  Maestro  Guido  da  Como  (1250),  of  S.  Michele 
at  Groppoli  between  Pistoja*  and  Pescia,  of  the  cathedral  of 
Volterra,  at  Barga  near  the  Baths  of  Lucca,  and  that  at  San 
Lionardo  near  Florence,  are  all  decorated  with  reliefs  which, 
while  they  illustrate  the  extremely  low  level  of  sculpture  in 
Tuscany  up  to  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  shoAv  in 
many  instances  a  striving  after  greater  freedom  in  arrangement 
and  action.  The  period  was  transitional  between  the  decay  of 
Byzantinism,  and  that  when  a  leader  was  to  arise  whose  mind 
and  hand  were  strong  enough  to  direct  the  aims  and  shape 
the  destinies  of  sculpture.  This  leader  was  Niccola  Pisano, 
whose  history  belongs  to  that  of  the  Pisan  school  which  he 
fouqded. 


BOOK     I. 


THE   EEYIVAL   AND   THE   GOTHIC   PEEIOD. 

1240  to  1400. 


HISTORICAL    HANDBOOK 


OP 


ITALIAN     SCULPTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

NICCOLA   PISANO. 

As  we  walk  tlirougli  the  quiet  streets  of  Pisa,  or  traverse  the 
broad  plain  which  divides  her  from  the  sea,  we  find  it  difficult 
to  realise  that  in  the  eleventh  century  she  was  a  crowded  sea- 
port, the  busy  mart  of  Oriental  traffic,  and  chief  among  the 
Ghibelline  cities  of  Italy.  The  antique  sarcophagi  in  her 
Campo  Santo,  which  then  decorated  the  exterior  of  her  newly 
built  Cathedral  and  served  for  the  next  century  and  a  half  as 
tombs  for  illustrious  Pisans  and  foreigners  of  distinction 
deceased  at  Pisa,*  recal  to  us  a  still  earlier  period  of  her 
history,  when  she  was  a  Eoman  colony  and  famous  for  her 
marble  works.  To  us  they  are  of  peculiar  interest,  not  only  as 
visible  links  between  her  ancient  and  mediaeval  periods,  but  also 
because  Niccola  Pisano  made  the  bas-reliefs  upon  them  special 
objects  of  study,  and  learned  from  them  those  forgotten  arts  of 
composition,  treatment  of  form,  and  disposition  of  drapery, 
which  made  his  sculpture  superior  to  any  executed  in  Italy 
since  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Eoman  Empire.  This 
was  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  Italy  was  convulsed  by 
the  great  struggle  unceasingly  carried  on  between  the  Imperial 

*  Such  as  some  Pisan  Archbishops ;  the  Countess  Beatrice,  mother  of 
the  Countess  Matilda,  in  1187 ;  Pope  Gregory  VIII.,  who  died  at  Pisa 
in  the  «ime  year,  and  the  great  Burgundian  in  1193.     See  Appendix  A. 

L    2 


4        Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

and  Papal  powers,  which  had  so  much  influence  upon  the 
development  of  the  arts.  At  the  outset  of  Niccola  Pisano's 
career  the  war  between  the  Hohenstauffens  and  the  popes  was 
renewed  by  Frederic  II.,  who,  king  of  Sicily  through  his 
mother,  of  Jerusalem  through  his  wife,  and  of  the  Piomans 
by  election,  had  been  crowned  emperor  by  the  pope,  of  whom 
he  professed  himself  the  vassal,  v.hile  secretly  preparing  the 
way  for  the  subjugation  of  Italy,  which  he  looked  upon  as  his 
rightful  heritage. 

The  popes  considered  the  independence  of  Italy  as  necessary 
to  their  own  freedom,  while  the  emperor  wished  to  put  down 
both  popes  and  republics,  in  order  to  bring  about  its  unification 
under  himself.  In  this  plan,  as  well  as  in  his  resistance  to 
papal  authority,  and  in  his  attacks  upon  the  vices,  wealth  and 
power  of  the  clergy,  Frederic  was  far  in  advance  of  his  time,* 
but  the  hour  was  not  yet  come  for  the  unification  of  Italy,  or 
for  religious  reform,  and  though  he  pressed  Kome  hard,  the 
elasticity  of  her  institutions,  which  yield  to  pressure  only  to 
resume  their  original  shape  when  it  is  removed,  saved  the 
Church  from  the  loss  of  temporal  power.  In  warring  against 
Frederic,  whose  courage,  cunning,  and  ambition  gave  the 
popes  ceaseless  cause  for  alarm,!  and  in  strengthening  and  ex- 
tending their  influence,  which  had  been  much  shaken  by  heresies 
in  Italy  and  France,  they  received  invaluable  assistance  from 
the  Minorites  and  the  Preaching  Friars,  whose  Orders  had 
been  established  by  Pope  Innocent  III.  in  the  early  part  of  the 
century,  in  consequence  of  a  vision,  in  which  he  saw  the  totter- 
ing walls  of  the  Lateran  Basilica  supported  by  an  Italian  and  a 
Spaniard,  in  whom  he  afterwards  recognized  their  respective 
founders,  Francis  and  Dominic,  Saints  who  employed  the  most 
opposite  means  in  the  work  of  conversion. 

Their  history,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Popes  whom  they  served, 
and  that  of  the  Emperor  whose  power  they  helped  them  to 

*  Kington,  li'ife  of  Frederic  II.,  says,  Frederic's  circular  addressed  to 
such  prelates  as  mourned  over  the  grasping  and  combative  spirit  of  their 
head  (Gregory  IX.,  who  had  just  excommunicated  him  in  1237),  reads 
like  a  forerunner  of  the  Reformation.  See  also  M.  Cherrier,  Hist,  de  la 
Lutte  des  Papes,  vol.  ii.  p.  397. 

t  G.  Villani  gives  the  Guelphic  opinion  of  Prederic,  lib.  vi.  ch.  i.  pp. 
233  ct  scq. :  Jamilla,  Hist.  Conradi  et  Manfredi,  vol.  viii.  p.  495,  the 
Ghibelline.     Vide  Sismondi,  Rep.  etc.  vol.  iL  pji.  46,  48. 


Niccola  Pisano.  5 

curb,  concerns  us  here  only  so  far  as  it  is  connected  with  the 
development  of  art.  It  is  evident  that  while  Frederic  II.  and 
Eccelino  of  Padua  needed  fortresses,  and  palaces  scarcely  less 
calculated  for  defence.  Innocent  lY.  and  Urban  IV.  wanted 
convents,  where  the  monks  whom  they  enlisted  to  fight  against 
heresy  could  be  lodged,  as  well  as  churches  in  which  the  growing 
army  of  the  faithful  could  assemble  for  prayer.  An  impulse 
was  thus  given  to  civil  and  to  ecclesiastical  architecture,  and 
consequently  to  sculpture,  which  formed  an  integral  part  of  it. 
Exercise  in  the  arts  brought  technical  improvement  in  its  train, 
and  as  the  field  continually  widened  builders  and  carvers  of  stone 
multiplied,  until  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  was  enriched 
with  those  masterpieces  of  construction  and  decoration  whose 
beauty  we  still  admire. 

Among  the  men  of  genius  by  whom  architecture  and  sculp- 
ture in  Italv  were  most  advanced,  none  has  won  for  himself  a 
mere  deserved  renown  than  Xiccola  Pisano,  of  whom  we  now 
propose  to  speak  as  fully  as  our  imperfect  knowledge  will  allow. 

That  he  was  born  between  1-20-1  and  1207  seems  proved  by 
an  inscription  on  the  fountain  at  Perugia,  which  states  that  he 
was  seventy-four  years  old  when  it  was  completed,  during  the 
Papacy  of  Nicholas  EH.  1277-80  ;*  but  where  and  how  he  was 
educated  are  questions  which  have  been  much  discussed.  Apart 
from  the  fact  that  Niccola  is  called  a  Pisau  in  all  inscriptions 
relating  to  him,  those  t  who  hold  that  he  was  of  Tuscan  birth 
and  education  rest  their  belief  upon  long  established  tradition, 
upon  the  character  of  his  works,  and  upon  a  document  in  the 
archives  of  San  Jacopo  at  Pistoja  in  which  he  is  spoken  of 
(July  11,  1272)  as  "  Master  Nicholas  of  Pisa,  son  of  the  late 
Peter  of  .  .  .  ,"  and  again  (Nov.  13,  1273)  as  "  Son  of  Peter 
of  the  parish  of  S.  Biagio  at  Pisa."  Those^  who  regard  him 
as  an  Apulian   born  and  bred,  cite  the   contract  between   Era 

*  Schultz,  GescMchte,  etc.  vol.  vii.  p.  271,  note  1,  doubts  the  correct- 
ness of  YermigHogli's  reading  of  the  inscription,  and  places  Niccola's  birth 
between  1210  and  1220. 

t  Milancsi,  Semper,  Schnaase,  and  Dobbert. 

J  Eumohr,  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  Forster,  Grimm,  Lubke,  Springer 
and  Salazaro.  The  arguments  on  both  sides  are  stated  by  Milanesi  in 
his  Commentary  upon  the  lives  of  Isiccola  and  Giovanni  Pisani,  Vasari, 
ed.  Milanesi,  1878,  vol.  i.  pp.  321-329,  and  carefully  discussed  in 
Schnaase's  GescMchte,  etc.  vol.  viii.  pp.  292  et  seq. 


6        Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptnre. 

Melano  and  himself  for  the  pulpit  at  Siena  (May  11,  120(5)  in 
which  he  is  mentioned  as  Master  Nicholas  son  of  Peter  of 
Apulia. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  ancestors  of  Niccola  were 
natives  of  Tuscany  or  iVpulia  would  be  of  comparatively  little 
importance,  if  its  decision  did  not  carry  with  it  another  of  a 
much  more  serious  nature — namely,  which  of  these  parts  of 
Italy  was  the  cradle  of  the  revival  of  sculpture.  For  our  own 
part,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  leaving  this  long-accredited 
honour  to  Tuscany,  for  only  there  are  to  be  found  those 
works  of  the  twelfth  century  which  announce  its  approach, 
together  with  those  of  the  thirteenth  in  which  it  reveals  itself; 
while  in  Apulia,  on  the  contrary,  the  clumsy  fourteenth  century 
bas-reliefs  which  decorate  the  facade  of  the  churches  at  Bitetto, 
Bitonto,  &c.,  are  of  like  character  with  Tuscan  works  of  Niccola 
Pisano's  predecessors  in  the  twelfth  century,  although  from  150 
to  200  years  later  in  date.  As  for  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  we 
need  only  say  that  its  school  of  sculpture,  which  had  its 
beginning  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  owed 
its  existence  to  the  Tuscan  pupils  of  Niccola  Pisano  as  well  as 
to  the  master  himself.* 

*  In  the  first  vohiine  of  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle's  Jlfst.  of  Fainting  in 
Italy,  at  p.  128,  these  authors,  in  support  of  their  theory  that  Niccola 
was  an  Apulian,  and  formed  his  style  upon  Apulian  marbles,  state  that 
sculpture  in  South  Italy  was  still  at  a  high  standard  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  As  an  example  of  this  they  cite  the  very  beautiful  pulpit  in 
the  Cathedral  of  S.  Paiitaleone,  at  Ravello,  the  work  of  a  sculptor  from 
Foffgia,  named  Niccolo  di  Bartolomeo,  about  the  year  1270.  As  at  this 
time  JSTiccola  Pisano  was  more  than  sixty-four  years  old,  and  had 
executed  the  greater  part  of  those  works  Avhicli  had  made  him  famous  all 
over  Italy,  it  would  seem  more  natural  to  conclude  that  Nicholas  of 
Foggia  was  his  pupil,  rather  than  his  master.  Again,  the  pulpit  at 
Ravello  is  the  only  work  known  of  the  Foggian  artist.  The  sculptures 
about  it,  exclusive  of  the  Lions,  which,  as  in  Niccola's  pulpits  at  Pisa 
and  Siena,  support  the  columns  upon  which  it  rests,  are  the  bust  of  a 
woman  placed  above  the  arched  door  of  entrance,  and  two  profile  heads 
upon  either  side,  relieved  upon  a  mosaic  background.  It  is  upon  these 
sculptures  that  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  found  their  statement  (op.  cit.  p. 
130)  that  Niccolo  di  Btirtolomeo's  works  are  so  like  those  of  his  Pisan 
namesake  in  style,  that  "  they  may  be  confounded."  In  answer  to  this, 
we  may  first  say  that  the  profile  heads  are  so  inferior  to  the  bust  that 
we  do  not  believe  them  to  be  the  work  of  the  same  sculptor;  second, 
that  in  neither  can  we  trace  any  resemblance  to  the  style  of  Niccola 


Niccola  Pisano.  ^ 

It  is  true  that  Apulian  sculptors  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  were  very  superior  to  their  Tuscan  contemporaries, 
but  they  worked  wholly  after  Saracenic  or  Byzantine  models, 
and  their  school  died  out  without  leaving  any  marks  of  influence 
upon  their  successors  in  Apulia,  or  upon  the  old  Tuscan 
masters,  whose  individual  and  clumsy  efforts  were  equally 
sterile  of  results. 

For  these  reasons  we  regard  the  theory  of  Niccola  Pisano's 
Apulian  origin  as  untenable,  if  by  Apulia  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  so-called  south-eastern  province  of  Italy;  but  we  are 
very  willing  to  accept  the  probable  explanation  given  by  the 
editor  of  the  new  edition  of  Vasari,  that  the  birthplace  of 
Peter,  the  father  of  Niccola,  spoken  of  in  the  Sienese  contract 
as  Apulia,  was  not  the  province,  but  one  of  the  two  towns  in 
Tuscany  called  Apulia,  Piiglia,  or  Pulia,  one  of  which  is 
situated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Siena,  and  the  other  in  that 
of  Arezzu.* 

For  the  first  forty-three  years  of  Niccola  Pisano's  life,  that  is 
up  to  1260,  when  he  contracted  for  the  pulpit  at  Pisa,  we  must 
rely  upon  Vasari,  as  amended  by  modern  commentators,  for 
such  information  as  we  have  to  offer  to  our  readers. 

His  earliest  master  was  probably  one  of  the  head  workmen 
employed  about  the  Cathedral  and  Baptistry,f  through  whose 
instructions,  aided  by  the  daily  study  of  those  noble  buildings, 
he   developed   so   rapidly  that  when   scarcely  fifteen  years  old 

Pisano;  and,  third,  tli at  though  the  heads  are  in  all  iDrobability  by  the 
same  artist  as  the  pulpit,  we  doubt  whether  this  be  the  case  with  the 
bust,  which,  unhke  them,  forms  no  integral  part  of  it.  This  bust  is  com- 
monly said  to  be  a  portrait  of  Sigelgaita  Rufolo,  wife  of  the  donor  of  the 
pulpit,  but  there  is  some  ground  for  the  supposition  that  it  represents 
Queen  Joanna  II.  of  Naples,  and  is  consequently  more  than  a  century 
later  in  date. 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  323,  CGmmentario  alia  Vita  di  Niccola  e  Giovanni  Pisani. 
"  If,"  says  Milanesi,  "  the  notary  who  wrote  out  the  Sienese  contract  had 
meant  to  indicate  the  province,  he  would  not  have  said  Petrus  de  Apulia, 
but  'de  partibus  Apulie,'  according  to  the  usual  formula.  By  'de 
Apulia,'  he  not  only  meant  to  designate  a  town  of  this  name,  but  also 
that  it  was  a  Tuscan  town,  since  he  added  nothing  after  the  name." 

t  This  is  stated  by  Vasari.  Schultz,  GescMchte,  vol.  viii.,  discredits 
the  fact,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  have  taught  him  little.  This  is 
true  of  sculpture— but  not  of  architecture ;  and  it  was  as  an  architect 
that  he  first  gained  reputation. 


8        Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

he  is  said  to  have  ohtained  the  appointment  of  architect  to 
Frederic  II.,  who  passed  through  Pisa  in  1220,  on  his  way  to 
receive  the  Imperial  crown  at  Rome.  After  his  coronation,  in 
the  month  of  November,  the  Emperor  and  his  suite  proceeded 
to  Naples,  where  Niccola  remained  for  about  ten  years,  during 
which  he  completed  Castel  Capuano  and  Castel  dell'  Ovo,  both 
of  which  had  been  commenced  under  the  Norman  King 
William  I.,  by  Bono,  a  Florentine  architect,*  and  then  went 
to  Padua,  to  design  a  Basilica  in  honour  of  St.  Anthony. 

No  one  among  the  disciples  of  St.  Francis  was  more  con- 
spicuous for  holiness  of  life,  and  the  gift  of  persuasive 
eloquence,  than  this  saintly  man,  who  born  in  an  age  of  fierce 
and  unbridled  passions,  preached  peace  and  good-will  to  men, 
and  so  moved  the  vast  audiences  assembled  around  him,  in  city 
squares  and  open  fields,  that  the  bitterest  enemies  fell  upon 
each  other's  neck  and  swore  thenceforth  to  live  like  brothers. 
Such  astonishing  results  are  generally  attributable  in  an  even 
greater  degree  to  the  faith  of  the  people  in  the  sanctity  and 
sincerity  of  the  Minorites  and  Preaching  Friars  than  to  their 
discourses!  which  consisted  of  Scripture  texts  and  quotations, 
strung  together  in  simple  sequence  ;  but  to  this  rule  the  sermons 
of  St.  Anthony!  form  an  exception,  as  he  developed  his  texts 
'  by  images  calculated  to  touch  the  heart,  and  illustrated  them 
by  striking  similes.  It  was,  however,  chiefly  because  his  words 
reflected  his  holy  life  that  they  had  such  power  over  the  minds 
of  his  hearers. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  the  Saint,  May  30,  1232,  he  was 
canonized  by  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  and  offerings  were  then  received 

*  Vasari,  vol.  i.  p.  261,  note  4.  Castel  Capuano  was  long  used  as  a 
)>alace  by  the  Angevine  kings.  According  to  Ricci,  tliese  castles  were 
tinished  by  a  Neapolitan  architect,  named  Puccio  {St.  delle  Arch,  in 
Italia,  vol.  i.  p.  593).  Unfortunately  we  can  form  no  idea  of  their 
appearance  when  finished  by  Niccola,  since  they  were  completely 
remodelled  by  the  viceroy,  Don  Pedro,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

t  If  they  were  spoken  in  the  Latin  language,  their  effect  is  still  more 
wonderful,  although  we  must  remember  that  it  differed  much  less  from 
the  then  unformed  Italian  tongue  than  from  that  which  we  know.  Pope 
Gregory  V.  (996-999),  as  we  know  from  his  epitaph,  used  French,  Italian, 
(  r  Latin,  as  best  suited  the  comprehension  of  his  hearers,  and  this  may 
have  been  the  case  with  the  Minorites  and  Pi-eaching  Friars. 

X  Sancti  Francisci  Assisiaiis,  nee  non  8.  Antonii  Paduani,  Opera 
omnia:  Parisiis,  I6il,  p.  160. 


Niccola  Pisano.  9 

towards  building  a  Basilica  in  hislionour  on  which  a  sum  of  4,000 
lire  was  annually  spent  during  the  seventy  years  occupied  in  its 
erection.*     Niccola   Pisano  attempted  in  his   design  to  amal- 
gamate many  styles  into  a  harmonious  whole.     He  lived  at  a 
time  when  architectural  ideas   were  in   an    unsettled  state  in 
Italy,   and    was    extremely    susceptible    to    fresh    impressions, 
whose  results  he  grafted  upon    classical  forms  to  which,  like 
other  Italian   architects,  he  clung  with  extraordinary  tenacity. 
The  Gothic  elements  which  he  used  were   a  homage  to   the 
peculiar  predilections  of  the  followers  of  St.  Francis  ;  the  cluster- 
ing Byzantine  cupolas   showed  the  effect  produced  upon  him 
by  the  church  of  St.  Mark  at  Venice  ;  while  the  Bomanesque 
fagade  told  that  he  had  not  forgotten  the  well-beloved  Cathedral 
at   Pisa,   under    the  shadow  of    whose   walls   his  early  years 
had  been    spent.f     If  on  the   one  hand   this   combination    of 
styles,  which  was  habitual  to  Niccola,   corroborates  the  tradi- 
tional belief  that  he  was  the  architect  of  this  church,  it  weighs 
equally  against  the  statement  that  he  built  the  Frari  at  Venice, 
whose    simple   Gothic  features,   and    geometrical   rather   than 
sculptural  ornaments,  belong  to  quite  another  school.! 

It  seems  probable  that  four  years  before  the  corner  stone  of 
the  Paduan  Basilica  was  laid,  Niccola  Pisano  went  to  Lucca  to 
sculpture  an  alto-relief  of  the  Deposition,  which  still  fills  the 
lunette  over  one  of  the  side  doors  of  the  Cathedral  of  San 
Martino.^     If  it  had  been  his  only  work,  it  would  have  sufficed 

*  Yitoti  8.  Antonil,  caput  xxii. ;  Sancti  Francisci  Assisiastis,  nee  non 
H.  Antonil  Padaani,  Opera  ovinia. 

t  The  most  important  work  upon  this  church  is  that  entitled  La 
Basilica  di  S-  Antonio,  by  the  Fadri  Gonzati  and  Isnenghi  {see  vol.  i. 
pp.  120,  121).  Selvatico  and  Ricci  attribute  only  a  part  of  it  to  Niccola; 
but  Vasari,  Gonzati  (vol.  i.  pp.  120,  121),  Biirckhardt,  Morrona  (vol.  ii.  \\ 
61),  and  Cicognara  (vol.  ii.  p.  170)  assert  that  he  built  the  whole  of  it,  or 
at  least  completely  designed  it  (see  Not.  St.  sull '  Arch.  Pad.  est.  dal 
Giornale  di  Belle  Arti.     Venezia,  1834). 

J  Selvatico,  Architettara  e  ScuUura  in  Venezia,  p.  98 ;  Ricci,  St.  dell* 
Architettura  in  Italia,  vol.  ii.  p.  328. 

§  The  date  1233  on  the  wall  of  the  portico  of  San  Martino,  has  no 
connection  with  Niccola's  work.  See  Milanesi's  ed.  of  Vasari,  vol.  i.  p. 
300,  note  1.  Some  writers  regard  this  work  as  of  the  school  of  Niccola, 
and  not  by  the  master;  while  others  (see  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle's  Hist, 
of  Painting,  vol.  i.  pp.  114,  115),  consider  that  he  sculptured  it  ia  the 
latter  fiart  of  his  life. 


lo      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

to  give  bim  the  place  of  honour  which  he  hokls  in  the  annjils  of 
Italian  art,  for  it  is  the  first  example  of  a  composition  properly 
so  called,  since  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Instead  of 
being  strung  together  with  no  concurrent  action  and  without 
connection,  as  in  mediaeval  bas-reliefs,  the  figures  are  grouped 
around  a  central  point  of  interest,  and  inspired  with  a  common 
sentiment. 

While  Nicodemus  detaches  the  lifeless  body  from  the  Cross, 
and  Joseph  of  Arimathgea  sustains  it  in  his  arms,  the  Virgin 


^:i.  i;.'i:!iiLiiiil.l;i!iiiii 


f^ii^iliLilillMiilliU 


5;' 

^'iMiiL&iijiiii 


and  St.  John  bear  up  the  drooping  hands,  forming  a  grand 
group  in  the  centre  of  the  lunette,  the  corners  of  which  are 
filled  with  kneeling  and  standing  figures,  who  show  by  their 
action  how  deep  an  interest  they  take  in  the  melancholy  scene 
which  passes  before  their  eyes. 

If,  as  we  suppose,  this  bas-relief  was  executed  before  Niccola 
had  gone  through  that  course  of  study  upon  which  he  founded 
his  second  and  most  characteristic  style,  it  may  be  taken  as  an 
example  of  what  he  could  accomplish  without  such  study,  and 


Niccola  Pisano.  1 1 

therefore  of  his  comparatively  uncultivatccl  powers.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  statuettes  of  the  Madonna,  St.  Dominic, 
and  the  Magdalen,  in  niches  on  the  outside  of  the  Miseri- 
cordia  Vecchia  at  Florence.  In  themselves  they  are  of  little 
importance,  with  the  exception  of  the  Madonna,  which  is 
interesting  as  the  prototype  of  all  ^Madonnas  of  the  Pisan 
school.  In  accordance  with  th-^  spirit  of  early  Christian 
art,  the  Virgin  is  amply  draped,  and,  in  token  of  her  pecu- 
liar office  of  showing  Christ  to  the  world,  holds  the  child  tar 
from  her,  as  though  her  human  afi'ectiou  were  controlled  by 
reverence  for  his  divine  nature. 

The  vear  in  which  Niccola  made  these  statuettes  is  unknown, 
but  we  may  suppose  it  to  have  been  about  1248,  when  he  was 
certainly  at  Florence  and  employed  by  the  Ghibellines,  whose 
vengeance  wreaked  itself  on  the  homes  as  well  as  on  the  persons 
of  the  Guelphs.  Incited  by  the  Emperor,  and  headed  by  his 
sou  Frederic  of  Antioch  with  1,500  horse,  the  Ghibellines  had 
driven  their  enemies  out  of  the  city,  and  had  thrown  down  thirty- 
six  lofty  towers,  and  many  palaces  lately  occupied  by  the  Guelphs, 
of  which  the  most  remarkable  was  the  Toringhi,  whose  tower  rose 
to  the  height  of  250  feet  above  its  superposed  ranges  of  marble 
columns.*  Desiring  also  to  annihilate  the  venerable  Baptistry, 
which  had  been  a  favourite  place  of  worship  with  the  Guelphs, 
but  not  daring  to  use  direct  means,  they  employed  Xiccola  Pisano 
to  throw  down  upon  it  a  neighbouring  tower,  called  Guardamorto, 
because  corpses  intended  for  burial  in  the  Baptistry  were  pre- 
viously exposed  for  eighteen  hours  in  its  chambers.  To  do  this, 
Niccola,  who  probably  desired  to  save  the  Baptistry,  removed 
the  stone  foundations  of  the  tower  on  one  side,  and  replaced 
them  with  beams  to  which  he  set  fire,  and  when  these  were 
burned  away,  "  it  fell,"  says  Villani,  "  by  the  grace  of  God  and 
through  a  special  miracle  of  St.  John,  straight  across  the 
Piazza."f  The  unrecorded  years  which  passed  between  Niccola's 
risit  to  Lucca  and  that  to  Florence,  and  the  twelve  which  imme- 
iiately  followed  the  overthrow  of  the  Guardamorto  Tower,  may 
aave  been  spent  in  building  certain  churches  and  palaces,  the 
jxact  date  of  whose  construction  is  unknown,  but  of  which  he  ig 
iniversally  allowed  to  have  been  the  architect.    Among  these  aj-o 

♦  Cantu,  St.  degV  Italiani;  Malespina,  Hist  Fior.  pp.  94,  95. 
t  Giovanni  Yillaui,  ch.  xxxiii.  p.  177. 


1 2     Histo7'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

Santa  Trinita  at  Florence,*  San  Domenico  at  Arezzo,  the 
Cathedral  at  Volterra,  the  Pieve  and  Santa  Margherita  at  Cor- 
tona,  all  of  which  were  subsequently  remodelled.  The  church 
of  San  Michele  in  Borgo,  which  hs  began  and  his  scholar  Fra 
Guglielmo  Agnelli  finished,  and  the  ingeniously  constructed 
campanile  of  the  church  of  San  Niccolo*  which  he  built,  are 
still  extant ;  but  many  other  buildings  erected  by  him  or  his 
scholars  at  Pisa  were  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  which  deso- 
lated that  city  in  the  year  161 0.f 

With  the  exception  of  the  relief  of  the  Deposition  at 
Lucca  and  the  statuettes  at  Florence,  just  referred  to, 
Niccola,  so  far  as  we  know,  worked  only  as  an  architect  until 
he  began  the  pulpit  for  the  Baptistry  at  Pisa.  In  the  interval 
he  must  have  carefully  examined  such  remains  of  antique 
sculpture  as  came  within  the  range  of  his  observation,  and 
recognizing  their  great  superiority  to  the  work  of  his  contem- 
poraries, have  determined  to  take  them  as  his  guides  in  carrying 
out  a  Avork  in  which  sculpture  was  to  play  the  most  important 
part.  In  order  to  obtain  as  much  space  as  possible  for  its 
display,  he  made  his  pulpit  hexagonal  instead  of  quadran- 
gular in  shape  according  to  the  common  fashion  of  the  time. 
Acquainted  with  all  architectural  styles  and  troubled,  as  we 
have  already  said,  by  no  scruples  about  mingling  them  in  one 
and  the  same  construction,  he  used  Pioman,  Mediaeval,  and 
Gothic  elements  to  enrich  it ;  crowned  his  columns  with  classic 
capitals  ;  rested  them  on  the  backs  of  Lions,  as  in  the  church 
porches  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  |    filled  his  round   arches  with 

*  Kicci,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  60.  According  to  Villani,  this  cliurch  was 
built  in  the  year  801.  It  was  rebuilt  after  ISTiccola's  design  in  1230,  and 
restored  in  1593  by  B.  Buontalanti. 

f  Among  these  were  the  church  of  San  Matteo,  whose  external  southern 
walls  and  cloister  alone  escaped,  and  the  palace  of  the  magistrates  (adjoin- 
ing the  Torre  della  Fame,  where  Ugolino  and  his  children  miserably  per- 
ished), upon  whose  foundations  A^asari  subsequently  built  the  convent  of 
the  Cavalieri  di  San  Stefano.  Yasari,  vol.  i.  p.  262 ;  Ricci,  of.  cit.  vol.  ii. 
p.  69.  That  Niccola  had  any  hand  in  building  the  facade  of  the  Duomo 
at  Siena,  as  stated  by  Vasari,  is  now  known  to  be  false  (Milancsi,  8t.  dl 
Siena,  etc.  p.  135;  Eicci,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  71). 

1  The  Lion  is  a  symbol  of  sacerdotal  vigilance,  and  of  wisdom,  and  a 
companion  of  Solomon  the  wise.  The  true  Solomon  is  Christ,  who  is 
r'^Y^resented  \vith  the  twelve  lions,  typical  of  tho  twelve  apostles.     In  the 


Niccola  Pisano.  13 

pointed  details  ;  and  set  up  statuettes  symbolic  of  the  Christian 
virtues  wherever  he  thought  they  would  produce  a  harmonious 
effect.  The  wonder  grows  as  we  study  his  pulpit,  that  with 
such  discrepancy  of  parts  it  should  produce  so  agreeable  and 
even  beautiful  an  effect.  The  five  bas-reliefs  which  adorn  its 
sides  are  its  most  interesting  feature — for  they  are  the  first- 
fruits  of  a  revived  art.  They  represent  the  Nativity,  the  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi,  the  Circumcision,  the  Crucifixion,  and  the 
Last  Judgment.  In  them,  as  in  his  architecture,  Niccola  is  an 
eclectic  who,  like  the  bee,  lights  upon  every  flower  and  by  a 
mysterious  process  turns  its  juices  into  honey.  Any  one  who 
knows  the  Byzantine  mode  of  representing  the  Nativity  will 
recognize  it  as  the  basis  of  Niccola's  treatment  of  the  subject, 
but  beyond  the  traditional  arrangement  of  the  figures  it  is  all 
his  own.  These  short  sturdy  forms  and  flowing  robes  in  no  wise 
resemble  those  of  the  long,  meagre  saints,  clad  in  stiff  conven- 
tional draperies,  who  stare  at  ns  from  the  pages  of  a  Greek 
missal,  while  the  majestic  Virgin  reclining  upon  a  couch,  looks 
more  like  an  Ariadne  than  a  Byzantine  Madonna.  In  the  Adora- 
tion we  have  a  still  closer  imitation  of  the  antique.  Here  the  seated 
Madonna  is  as  identical  with  the  Phaedra  in  a  bas-relief  upon  an 
old  sarcophagus  in  the  Campo  Santo,  as  the  sculptor  with  his 
imperfect  education  could  make  her.*  Sitting  on  the  lap  of  this 
Greco-Pisan  Virgin,  who  with  little  of  the  style  has  much  of 
the  dignity  of  her  prototype,  the  infant  Christ  receives  gifts 
from  his  royal  tributaries,  two  of  whom  kneel  while  one  stands 
beside  him.  St.  Joseph,  an  angel,  and  the  three  horses  of  the 
kings,  complete  the  composition,  whose  simple  directness  of 
language  is  worthy  of  high  praise.  In  the  Circumcision 
Niccola  borrowed  not  only  one  but  two  figures  from  the  antique, 
namely,  the  bearded  and  amply  draped  personage  leaning  upon 
a  youth  in  the  foreground,  so  evidently  inspired  by  the  group  of 
Dionysos  and  Ampelos  upon  a  well-known  Greek  vase  in  the 
Campo  Santo.  In  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Last  Judgment  Niccola 
seems  to  us  less   successful  than  he  was  in  treating  the  same 

Revelation  he  is  called  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah.     Kreuser,  Oj).  c'lt. 
vol.  i.  p.  189. 

*  Beatrice,  wife  of  Boniface,  Marquis  of  Tuscany,  who  died  a.d.  1076, 
was  buried  in  it.  Its  reliefs  represent  the  story  of  PhsEdra  and 
Hippolytus 


14      Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctilpture. 

subjects  upon  the  pulpit  which  he  afterwards  made  for  the 
Cathedral  at  Siena.  There  as  here,  however,  he  overcrowded 
his  compositions,  and  resorted  to  the  rude  expedient  of  fill- 
ing up  small  spaces  with  little  figures  on  quite  a  different  scale 
of  proportion  from  the  rest. 

How  long  a  time  Niccola  spent  upon  this  remarkable  work 
is  unfortunately  an  unanswerable,  though  by  no  means  an  unim- 
portant question,  for  knowing  as  we  do  the  year  when  he  com- 
pleted the  subject  by  the  inscription  upon  it,*  we  could^ 
did  we  know  when  he  began  it,  fix  with  some  approach  to 
accuracy  the  time  when  he  turned  his  attention  to  sculpture. 
Reason  tells  us  that  a  long  period  of  preparation  for  work 
so  new  to  him  was  necessary,  and  furthermore  that  after 
it  was  over,  he  must  have  employed  several  yeai's  in  carrying 
it  out,  especially  as  he  can  have  had  but  little  aid  from  others. 
The  same  question  arises  in  regard  to  the  Area  or  sarcophaguSi 
at  Bologna,  made  to  receive  the  bones  of  St.  Dominic  by 
Niccola  and  Fra  Guglielmo  Agnelli,  his  pupil,  a  monk  of  the 
Convent  of  St.  Catherine  at  Pisa.  The  annals  of  the  Convent 
prove  that  on  the  12tli  of  June,  1267,  Fra  Guglielmo  wit- 
nessed the  ceremony  of  transferring  the  Saint's  remains  from 
the  plain  stone  sarcophagus  in  which  they  had  rested  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  to  the  richly  sculptured  receptacle  W'hich  he 
had  assisted  in  preparing  for  them.f  We  do  not  know  how 
many  years  he  and  his  master  worked  upon  its  bas-reliefs, 
but  they  represent  Niccola's  labours  as  a  sculptor  from  1260, 
when  he  completed  the  pulpit  at  Pisa,  to  1267.  Its  bas-reliefs, 
as  we  have  seen,  attest  the  influence  of  the  ancient  marbles  at 
Pisa  upon  him.  Of  this  we  see  no  other  trace  in  those  upon 
the  "  Area "  of  St.  Dominic,  as  compared  with  contem- 
porary Tuscan  sculpture,  save  the  great  superiority  in  composi- 
tion, technic,  and  treatment  of  drapery  which  Niccola's  study 
of  models  of  a  high  order  had  enabled  him  to  attain.  Evi- 
dently there  never  was  a  man  so  susceptible  to  present  influ- 
ences as  he.     At  Pisa  where  he  saw  the  antique,  he  not  only 

*   "  Anno  milleno  bis  centum  bisque  triceno 
Hoc  opus  insigne  sculpsit  Niccola  Pisano, 
Laiidetur  digne  tam  bene  docta  manus." 
■f"  ;9cc  Annals  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Catherine.     Arch.  St.  Ital.  vol.  vL 
pp.  4-67— 1-74,  pub.  by  Prof.   Bonaini ;  also.  Padre  Marcliesi,  Mem.  etc 
vol.  L,  p.  72,  73). 


Niccola  Pisano.  15 

educated  himself  upon  it,  but  actually  copied  it,  while  at 
Bologna  where  no  old  marbles  met  his  eye,  he  worked  with  the 
greater  knowledge  which  he  owed  to  them,  though  with  no 
dependauce  upon  them. 

Two  miracles  worked  by  St.  Dominic,  and  certain  events 
connected  with  the  establishment  of  his  order,  are  represented 
in  the  bas-reliefs  upon  the  front  and  ends  of  his  sarcophagus. 
The  most  important  one  of  the  series  illustrates  the  following 
story.  "  On  Ash  Wednesday,  a.d.  1215,  the  Abbess  and  some 
of  her  nuns  went  to  take  possession  of  the  new  monastery  of 
St.  Sixtus  at  Rome  ;  and  being  in  the  chapter-house  with  St. 
Dominic  and  Cardinal  Stefano  di  Torre  Nuova,  suddenly  there 
came  in  one  tearing  his  hair,  and  making  great  outcries,  for  the 
young  Lord  Napoleon,  nephew  of  the  Cardinal,  had  been 
thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed  on  the  spot.  The  Cardinal 
fell  speechless  into  the  arms  of  St.  Dominic,  and  the  women 
and  others  who  were  present  were  filled  with  grief  and  horror. 
They  brought  the  body  of  the  j^outh  into  the  chapter-house, 
and  laid  it  before  the  altar,  and  Dominic,  having  prayed,  turned 
to  the  body  of  the  young  man,  saying,  '  0  adolescens  Napoleo, 
in  nomine  Domini  nostris,  tibi  dico  surge,'  and  thereupon  he 
arose  sound  and  whole,  to  the  unspeakable  wonder  of  all 
present."* 

"With  a  just  sense  of  the  capabilities  of  his  subject,  Niccola 
represented  the  resuscitation  of  the  youth,  not  in  the  chapter- 
house, but  on  the  spot  where  the  accident  occurred.  'This 
enabled  him  to  introduce  the  fallen  horse,  as  well  as  the  pray- 
ing saint  and  the  crowding  spectators,  and  thus  show  at  once 
the  cause  and  effect  of  the  untoward  accident.  The  story 
could  hardly  have  been  more  clearly  told,  or  the  central  group 
more  happily  disposed.  It  attracts  and  fixes  the  eye  because 
of  the  contrast  which  its  action  presents  to  the  passive  wit- 
nesses of  the  miracle  who  fill  the  backefrouud,  and  bv  reason  of 
their  quietness  give  it  full  prominence.     {See  wood-cut,  p.  IG.) 

A  statuette  of  the  Madonna  separates  this  relief  from  another 
in  which  St.  Dominic  appears  disputing  with  heretics  in 
Languedoc,  and  submitting  his  own  and  the  Manichean  books 
to  the  ordeal  by  fire.  He  is  again  represented  in  a  relief  upon 
one  end  of  the  sarcophagus,  in  the  act  of  receiving  the  Gospels 
*  Mrs.  Jameson,  oj'.  cit.  p.  3G9. 


1 6      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptii7'e. 

from  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and  in  that  of  transmitting  tlieSG 
instruments  for  the  conversion  of  heretics  to  his  monks,  iu 
obedience  to  the  Apostolic  command.  In  the  corresponding 
relief,  the  brethren  are  fed  in  time  of  famine  by  angels 
disguised  as  acolytes.  The  statuettes  of  the  four  Doctors  of 
the  Church,  on  the  corners  of  the  sarcophagus,  appear  to  be 
the  work  of  Niccola,  but  the  bas-reliefs  at  the  back  and  the 
statuette  of  the  Piedeemer  between  them,  are  so  technically 
inferior  to  the  rest,  that  though  he  may  have  designed  them, 


illliiiliiiiili 


■iii:iiffi 


SiiiiaiB 


i^I:-' 


iii'iiiinmnni  i 


"11 


'l;!ll 


i   III 


lii 


"■ll,.|l!, 


iii)i^i;i^'ijii^i:;;iillii;ii!iiii!i;iiiiiiiyiUililii^iliiiili!!^^ 


we  have  no  doubt  that  they  were  sculptured  by  Fra  Guglielmo 
during  his  absence. 

This  sculptor  monk,  who  Avas  born  at  Pisa  in  1238,  con- 
tinued to  work,  both  as  architect  and  sculptor,  after  he  entered 
the  convent  of  St.  Catherine  at  Pisa  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 
The  exercise  of  these  professions  was  perfectly  compatible  with 
his  new  calling  at  a  time  when  art  was  almost  exclusively 
devoted  to  religious  subjects,  and  we  may  suppose  that  he 
began  to  study  them  under  Niccola  Pisano  at  a  very  early  age. 
The  bas-reliefs  which  he  sculptured,  after  his  master's  designs, 
upon  the  back  of  the  "  Area  "  of  St.  Dominic,  represent  events 
in  the  life  of  the  Saint's  disciple,  Reginald  of  Orleans,   the 


Niccola  Pisano.  17 

vision  of  Pope  Honorius  III.,  and  his  establishment  of  the 
Dominican  order.  They  give  proofs  of  sucli  moderate  ability 
that  we  find  it  difficult  to  accept  Fra  Gii<?lielmo  as  the  sculptor 
of  those  which  have  been  accredited  to  him  upon  the  pulpit 
of  San  Giovanni  outside  the  walls  of  Pistoja,  especially  on 
account  of  the  dramatic  feeling  displayed  in  them.  This 
points  to  the  influence  of  Giovanni  Pisano,  rather  than  to  that 
of  Niccola — an  influence  which  could  hardly  have  led  to  so  great 
a  transformation  of  style  in  the  three  years  which  intervened 
between  the  finishing  of  the  Area  (1267),  and  the  making  of 
the  pulpit,  whose  date  is  given  as  1270.  The  bas-reliefs  at 
Bologna  and  a  rude  statue  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  in  a 
Gothic  tabernacle  over  the  portal  of  San  Michele  in  Borgo  at 
Pisa,  are  the  only  certain  works  of  Fra  Guglielmo  known, 
for  although  he  was  employed  (1293)  at  Orvieto  with  other 
artists  upon  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  Cathedral  facade,  it  is  not 
possible  to  identify  his  work  there.  He  rebuilt  the  convent  of 
St.  Catherine  at  Pisa,  where  he  died  in  1312,  after  confessing 
that  while  working  upon  the  "Area"  of  St.  Dominic,  he  had 
stolen  one  of  the  Saint's  ribs  and  hidden  it  under  the  altar  of 
the  Magdalen.* 

We  must  now  return  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Dominic,  which  is 
interesting  as  an  epitome  of  styles  of  sculpture  from  the  thir- 
teenth to  the  seventeenth  century.  More  than  two  centuries 
after  the  sarcophagus  was  sculptured  by  Niccola  Pisano,  another 
Niccola,  variously  called  da  Bari,  II  Dalmata,  II  Bolognese 
and  dair  Arca,f  made  it  the  centre  of  a  marble  structure, 
■which  he  adorned  with  leaves  symmetrically  arranged  and 
divided  by  eight  zones  terminating  in  volutes,  which  support 
statuettes  of  SS.  Francis,  Dominic,  Florian,  Proculus,  John 
the  Baptist  and  Petronius.t  On  the  summit  he  placed  a  statuette 
of  God  the  Father  upon  a  vase- shaped  pedestal,  from  whose 
handles  hang  festoons  of  flowers  and  fruit  pressed  outwards  by 
tAvo  little  angels.  An  Ecce  Homo  and  two  adoring  angels  by 
Tribolo,  a  Florentine  sculptor  of  the  sixteenth  century,  fill  the 

*  Arch.  St.  Ital.,  vol.  vi.  second  part,  p.  464; 

t  For  an  account  of  this  artist  see  p.  257. 

t  The  S.  Petronius  is  saiJ  to  be  by  ]\Iichael  Angelo.  The  S.  John, 
and  perhaps  some  of  the  other  statuettes  were  sculptured  by  Girolamo 
Coltellini  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

0 


1 8      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  SctUpture. 

space  between  these  festoons,  which  rest  upon  dolphins  and 
fall  upon  a  flat  base  with  prophet-statuettes  at  its  corners. 
Below  it  stands  the  "  Area,"  upon  an  altar  whose  "  gradino  "  is 
covered  with  extremely  flat  reliefs  sculptured  by  Alphonso 
Lombardi,  of  Ferrara.  The  angels  with  candelabra  upon  it, 
are  by  Niccola  dell'  Area  and  IMichel  Augelo.* 

The  bas-relief  on  the  front  of  the  altar  by  Carlo  Bianconi, 
representing  the  entombment  of  S.  Dominic,  and  the  ornaments 
about  it  by  Mano  Tesi  and  Salvolini,  Italians,  and  Boudaud, 
a  Frenchman,  are  works  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  shrine,  being  the 
work  of  so  many  hands,  should  want  unity  of  eff"ect.  Imposing 
as  it  is  by  reason  of  its  richness  and  size,  we  cannot  look  at  it 
without  regretting  that  the  sculptors  who  were  successively 
called  to  work  upon  it,  failed  to  recognize  that  their  real  mission 
was  to  give  the  sarcophagus  a  harmonious  setting.  Like 
Mozart  when  he  wrote  additional  accompaniments  to  some  of 
Handel's  Oratorios,  they  should  have  thought  only  of  how  they 
could  make  the  master's  work  appear  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  had  they  done  so  the  result  would  have  been  of  far  greater 
value. 

In  June,  1267,  when  the  ceremony  of  placing  the  bones  of 
the  Saint  in  the  "Area"  took  place  at  Bologna,  Niccola  Pisano 
was  not  able  to  be  present  on  account  of  the  important  work 
which  he  had  in  hand  at  Siena.  In  the  previous  year  he  had 
contracted  with  Fra  Melano  to  make  a  pulpit  for  the  Cathedral 
in  that  city,  and  had  bound  himself  to  reside  there  until  its 
completion.!  The  terms  agreed  upon  were  that  he  should 
be  paid  at  the  rate  of  eight  soldi  a  day,  besides  his  living 
expenses,  have  his  son  Giovanni,  here  first  mentioned,  and 
his  puj^ils  Arnolfo  di  Cambio,  Donato  and  Lapo  to  assist  him, 
and  be  allowed  to  visit  Pisa  four  times  a  year,  with  permission 
to  remain  there  a  fortnight  at  a  time,  not  counting  the  days 
spent  in  travelling. 

Wisely  considering  that  his  second  pulpit  was  not,  like  the 

'■=  The  question  of  authorship  is  discussed  at  p.  257. 

f  The  contract  is  dated  May  11th,  1266,  "according  to  the  Pisan 
reckoning,"  which  corresponds  to  the  29th  of  September,  1265,  of  tho 
common  reckoning.  Schnltz,  of.  cit.  vol.  vii.  p.  272.  Milanesi,  note  2  to 
Vasari,  vol.  i.  p.  304,  gives  Sept.  29th,  1266,  as  the  date  of  the  contract 


Niccola  Pisa  710.  19 

first,  to  stcaud  in  a  smcall  building,  but  under  the  dome  of  a 
vast  Catbedral,  he  designed  it  on  a  larger  scale,  with  eight 
instead  of  six  sides,  but  despite  these  increased  proportions 
it  is  less  effective  than  that  in  the  Baptistry  at  Pisa,  per- 
haps because  it  is  surrounded  by  so  many  other  objects  of 
interest.  It  is  also  less  harmonious,  as  a  work  of  art,  owinj? 
to  its  elaborately  ornamented  Kenaissance  staircase  which, 
though  admirable  in  itself,  conflicts  in  style  with  the  main 
body  of  the  pulpit.*  Supported  upon  columns  resting  on 
the  backs  of  lions,  and  enriched  with  statuettes  like  its 
pi'ototype,  it  differs  from  it  in  having  its  flat  spaces  filled 
with  tracery,  leaves,  and  gilded  glass  mosaics,!  as  well  as  in 
the  greater  number  of  its  bas-reliefs.  Two  of  these,  the 
Nativity  and  the  Crucifixion,  differ  very  slightly  from  those, 
of  the  same  subjects  at  Pisa ;  two,  the  Massacre  of  the 
Innocents  and  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  are  original  compo- 
sitions ;  and  two,  the  Adoration  and  the  Last  Judgment,  are 
old  subjects  varied  in  treatment.  The  Adoration  is  less  clear 
and  simple  in  composition,  and  the  Last  Judgment  even 
more  crowded  than  that  at  Pisa,  although  in  other  respects 
of  superior  merit.  This  defect  of  overcrowding,  which  is 
less  marked  in  the  Pisan  than  in  the  Sienese  reliefs,  none  of 
which  are  free  from  it,  is  most  excusable  in  the  Last  Judg- 
ment, which  could  hardly  be  treated  successfully  in  sculp- 
ture, unless  by  the  Greek  method  of  using  a  few  typical 
figures  to  represent  a  multitude.  Such  a  device  was 
unknown  to  Niccola  who,  undeterred  by  the  difficulties  of 
his  task,  undertook  and  accomplished  it  with  no  small  credit 
to  himself. 

The  Padre  della  Valle  in  speaking  of  the  Sienese  pulpit  says, 

*  Said  to  be  the  work  of  II  Marrina,  a  Sienese  sculotor  of  the  first  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century.     See  ch.  iv.  p.  07. 

t  By  a  celebrated  glass-worker,  painter,  and  sculptor  of  Siena,  named 
Pastoriuo  Pastorini  (1531-1560),  scholar  of  Guglielmo  Marcilla,  or 
Di  !MarcIllac,  a  French  painter  on  glass  and  in  fresco,  who  painted  the 
windows  in  the  episcopal  palace  at  Arezzo,  and  the  round  window 
of  the  Duomo  at  Siena.  Pastorini  attained  great  reputation  by  his 
portraits  in  the  round,  in  medals  of  coloured  wax,  and  medallions  in 
b'onze.  Prom  1554  to  1557  he  worked  at  Ferrara  for  Duke  Hercules  II. 
See  Commentary  to  the  Life  of  GwjUclmo  dc  Marcillac,  Vasari,  ed. 
Milanesi,  vol.  iv.,  p.  433 

c  2 


20      Historical  Haiiddook  of  Italian  Sailphtre. 

that  the  first  Sienese  and  Florentine  sculptors  issued  from  it 
as  the  Greeks  from  the  Trojan  horse.*  In  so  far  as  their 
art  owed  its  revival  to  Niccola  Pisano,  this  observation  is 
justly  ajiplicable  to  all  parts  of  Tuscany.  The  capacity  of 
the  sixty  workers  in  stone  who  kept  open  shop  at  Siena 
when  he  came  there,  may  be  estimated  by  such  rude  bas-reliefs 
as  those  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  and  the  Adoration  of  the 
Magi  in  the  chapel  of  Sant'  Ansano  at  the  Cathedral.!  At  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
when  the  Pulpit  had  done  its  work  of  regeneration,  Siena  pro- 
duced a  number  of  sculptors  who  were  thought  worthy  to  assist 
in  building  and  decorating  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral  at  Orvieto 
under  Lorenzo  Maitani,  himself  a  Sienese,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Tuscan  architects  and  sculptors.  Leaving  these 
facts  to  speak  for  themselves,  we  may  pass  on  to  discuss  the 
remaining  portion  of  Niccola  Pisano's  life. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  his  pulpit  at  Siena,  the  last 
scene  in  that  struggle  between  the  papal  and  imperial  powers 
which  began  in  his  youth,  had  been  played  out  on  the  battle  field 
of  Tagliacozzo  ;  the  last  scion  of  the  Holienstaufi"ens  had  died 
the  death  of  a  felon,  and  Charles  of  Anjou  had  finally  seated 
himself  on  the  throne  of  Frederic  11.+  To  commemorate  the 
victory  which  gave  it  to  him,  the  •  monarch  commissioned 
Niccola  Pisano  to  build  an  abbey  and  convent  near  the  battle- 
6eld,  within  which  the  bones  of  the  slain  should  be  buried, 
and  daily  and  nightly  masses  for  the  repose  of  their  souls 
said  by  the  Templars.  The  site  selected  for  these  build- 
ings, whose  origin  is  marked  only  by  the  name  of  an  adjoin- 
ing church,  Sta.  Maria  della  Vittoria,§  was  the  height,  about 
ten  miles  from  Tagliacozzo,  where  the  ill-fated  Conradiuo 
first  halted  in  his  march  from  Piome.  Looking  from  it  over 
the   little   town  of  La   Scorgola,  with  houses   clustering  upon 

*  Letters  Sanes!,  vol.  i.  p.  279.  The  pulpit  was  i)robably  finished  in 
Novemher,  1268. 

t  With  the  architects  they  formed  a  guild,  ruled  by  three  rectors  and  a 
chamberlain  elected  for  six  months,  who  became  ineligible  for  three  years 
after  they  retired  from  office. 

t  The  pulpit  is  supposed  to  have  been  completed  in  November,  1267, 
and  the  battle  was  fought  in  August,  1268.     See  Appendi.x,  letter  B. 

§  Carlo  Prorais,  Degli  Artefici  Marmoraii  Itomani,  p.  15,  note  22.  A 
festival  to  commemorate  the  victory  of  Charles  of  Anjou  is  held  at  Santa 
Maria  della  Vittoria  every  hundred  years. 


Niccola  Pisano.  2t 

the  liili- side,  the  traveller  commands  an  exquisite  view  of  the 
fatal  plain,  the  sparkling  lake,  the  grand  background  of  moun- 
tains whose  chain  culminates  in  the  snow-capped  Velino,  and 
of  the  ruins  of  the  old  Marsian  city  of  Alba,  which  supplied  a 
mass  of  material  for  the  construction  of  the  now  ruined  abbey. 
When  Niccola  himself  stood  there,  we  cannot  doub^  that  he  re- 
membered the  days,  then  half  a  century  past,  when  he  won  his 
first  laurels  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  he  was  now  to  build 
a  monument  intended  to  commemorate  the  overthrow  of  the 
house,  and  the  extinction  of  the  race,  of  his  early  friend  and 
patron,  Frederic  II. 

The  last  work  of  importance  in  which  our  sculptor  had  a  share 
was  the  fountain  in  the  square  of  the  Cathedral  at  Perugia. 
The  inscription  mentions  his  name  and  that  of  his  son  Giovanni 
who,  as  we  know  from  other  sources,  had  the  assistance  of  his 
fellow-pupil  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  in  its  completion.  It  consists 
of  two  superposed  basins,  the  upper  of  which  is  decorated  with 
twenty-four  statues  in  niches,  representing  prophets  and  saints 
and  the  two  Podestas  who  ruled  Perugia  while  the  fountain 
was  in  progress.*  These  simple,  broadly-draped  figures  were 
sculptured  by  Niccola  at  Pisa,  whence  they  were  sent  to  Gio- 
vanni who  remained  at  Perugia  to  sculpture  th^  bas-reliefs  upon 
the  sides  of  the  lower  basin,  which  for  the  most  part  consist 
of  single  figures  symbolic  of  the  months  and  the  seven  liberal 
arts,f  together  with  coats-of-arms,  the  Guelphic  lion,  the 
Griffin  of  Perugia,  the  Eagle  of  Pisa  twice  repeated,  as  well  as 
some  of  ^Esop's  fables,  and  Ptheawith  the  twins  and  their  nurse 
the  Roman  wolf.  Proud  of  their  beautiful  fountain,  the  magis- 
trates enacted  severe  laws  for  its  preservation,  in  which  it  is 
mentioned  as  the  most  valuable  possession  of  the  city,  and  as 
unique,  not  only  in  Italy  but  in  the  world;];  encomiums  which, 
in  its  present  state  of  decay,  seem  somewhat  exaggerated. 
While  still  engaged  upon  it,  Giovanni,  hearing  of  the  danger- 
ous illness  of  his  father,  travelled  homewards,  but  being  detained 

*  The  bronze  work  was  cast  by  a  Maestro  Rossi,  of  Perugia,  in  1277  ; 
perhaps  the  same  artist  who,  fourteen  years  earlier,  made  the  ball  of 
the  cupola  of  the  Duomo  at  Siena. 

t  The  Trivium,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  was  a  course  of  elementary  instruc- 
tion in  Grammar,  Dialectics,  and  Rhetoric;  the  Quadrivium,  in  Arith- 
metic, Geometry,  Music,  and  Astronomy. 

J  Vermiglioli,  op.  cit.  preface. 


2  2      Histo7dcal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 


in  Florence,  did  not  reach  Pisa  until  Niccola  had  breathed  his 
last  (1278). 

Inestimable  were  the  services  rendered  to  art  by  this  eminent 
man.  He  gave  the  death  blow  to  Byzantinism  and  barbarism, 
established  new  architectural  principles,  opened  men's  eyes  to 
the  degraded  state  of  art  by  showing  them  where  to  study, 
and  how  to  study,  and  founded  a  new  school  of  sculpture  in  Italy. 
Never  hurried  by  an  ill-regulated  imagination  into  extrava- 
gance he  was  careful  in  selecting  his  models  of  style,  and 
his  methods  of  self-cultivation ;  an  indefatigable  worker,  who 
spared  neither  time  nor  strength  in  obedience  to  the  numerous 
calls  made  upon  him  from  all  parts  of  the  peninsula,  he  is  to  be 
found  now  in  Pisa,  then  in  Naples,  Padua,  Siena,  Lucca,  or 
Florence,  here  to  design  a  church,  there  to  model  a  bas-relief, 
erect  a  puljait,  a  palace  or  a  tower.  By  turns  architect  and 
sculptor,  great  in  both  arts,  original  in  both,  a  reviver  in  both, 
laying  deep  and  well  the  foundations  of  his  edifices  by  hitherto 
unpractised  methods,  and  sculpturing  his  bas-reliefs  upon  prin- 
ciples evolved  from  the  study  of  antique  models  long  unheeded, 
he  held  the  same  relation  to  Italian  art  which  Dante  held  to 
Italian  literature,  and  was  a  truly  great  man  whose  claims 
to  remembrance. can  never  be  forgotten. 


Allegorical  Figures  from  the  Fountain  at  Pekugia. 


The  ScJiolars  of  Niccola  Pisano,  2 


o 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    SCHOLARS    OF    NICCOLA    PISANO. 

It  seems  at  first  sight  strange  that  an  artist  of  such  extraordi- 
nary genius  as  Niccola  Pisano  should  not  have  formed  scholars 
content  to  repeat  his  types  and  work  in  his  spirit,  hut 
we  understand  the  reason  when  we  look  at  the  eclectic  cha- 
racter of  his  work,  and  consider  the  unsettled  state  of  men's 
minds  ahout  art  at  this  time.  To  shape  others,  a  man 
must  himself  have  definite  ideas,  and  these  Niccola  had  not. 
Wanting  in  fixed  principles,  and  having  no  style  of  predilec- 
tion, he  welded  divers  heterogeneous  elements  into  units 
though  an  instinct  peculiar  to  himself.  After  his  day,  when 
Gothic  influences  predominated  in  architecture,  his  chief  pupils 
submitted  to  them  more  or  less  completely,  and  in  sculpture,  as 
in  architecture,  their  works  show  little  trace  of  their  previous 
training.  Forced  to  seek  other  paths  than  those  in  which  their 
master  had  walked,  they  turned  to  nature,  and  endeavoured  to 
express  the  emotions  of  the  soul  in  the  countenances  and  atti- 
tudes of  the  figures  which  they  introduced  into  their  composi- 
tions, striving,  however  incompletely,  to  catch  the  spirit  of  the 
time,  and  make  their  art  intelligible  to  their  contemporaries. 

This  is  especially  the  case  with  Giovanni  Pisano,  of  whom 
we  purpose  to  speak  in  this  chapter,  after  saying  a  few  words 
about  his  fellow  scholars  under  Niccola.  The  reader  has  already 
made  sufficient  acquaintance  with  one  of  them,  Fra  Guglielmo 
Agnelli,  so  that  we  may  pass  on  to  the  three  Florentines,  Lapo, 
Donato  di  Ricevuto,  and  Goro  di  Ciuccio  Ciuti,  who  assisted 
their  master  at  Siena,  where  they  settled  with  their  families, 
and  received  the  honours  of  citizenship.  Lapo,  who  was 
perhaps  the  author  of  the  monument  to  Hecuba,  Queen  of 
Cyprus,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Assisi,*  built  the  barracks  of  St. 
Angelo  in  Colle  (1281),  and  nine  years  later  commanded  an 
expedition  sent  by  the  Sienese  to  destroy  the  possessions  of 
the    Cacciaconti.      Donato   is    only    once   spoken  of  as  head- 

*  Bee  Appendix,  letter  C 


24      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptttre, 

architect  of  the  Ponte  di  Fojauo  in  1277.  Of  Goro  we  know 
nothing,  save  that  he  had  three  sons,  Neri,  Ambrogio,  and 
Goro,  sculptors  and  architects,  who  built  the  Fonte  di  Follonica 
in  the  year  1306.* 

From  these  men  of  little  note,  let  us  turn  to  Niccola's  great 
pupils,  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  and  Giovanni  Pisano.  In  a  history 
of  architecture  Arnolfo  would  claim  a  much  larger  share  of  our 
attention  than  Giovanni,  as  he  was  especially  an  architect  and 
had  but  little  to  do  with  sculpture  even  as  an  architectural 
accessory.  He  was  born  at  Colle  in  the  Val  d'  Elsa,  in  the  year 
1232,1  and  is  first  heard  of  as  the  assistant  of  Niccola  in  the 
construction  of  the  oft-mentioned  pulpit  at  Siena.  Twenty  years 
later  we  know  that  he  was  living  at  Naples,  in  the  service  of 
Charles  of  Anjou,  as  the  King  then  received  a  petition  from  the 
magistrates  of  Perugia  (1277)  that  he  would  allow  his  architect 
to  assist  in  constructing  the  Fountain  in  the  Piazza  of  the 
Cathedral,  to  which  he  returned  a  gracious  answer  with  the 
promise  of  a  gift  of  marble.  +  Whether  or  not  Arnolfo  availed 
himself  of  the  permission  granted  is  uncertain,  as  his  name 
is  not  given  with  those  of  Niccola  and  Giovanni  in  the  inscrip- 
tion upon  the  fountain,  and  the  municipal  records  which  would 
have  settled  the  question  are  lost.§ 

The  attempt  to  trace  Arnolfo  by  any  known  work  is  but  a 
fruitless  game  at  bide  and  seek,  until  the  year  1280,  when 
he  received  a  commission  for  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Guillaume 
de  Braye  in  the  church  of  San  Domenico  at  Orvieto,  which 
enabled  him,  at  the  age  of  forty-six,  to  show  the  originality 
of  his  genius  in  a  design,  whose  peculiar  feature  gave  individu- 
ality to  the  type  of  tombs  thenceforward  adopted  by  artists  of 
the  Pisan  school.  We  refer  to  the  Ansjels  drawinffback  curtains 
from  a  recess,  which  contains  the  effigy  of  the  deceased  lying 
upon  a  sarcophagus.  In  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  de  Braye,  as 
in  other  early  examples  at  Perugia,  Capua,  Piome,  and  Naples, 

*  8ee  Appendix,  letter  D. 

t  His  parents  were  Cambio  and  Perfetta.  Perfetta  is  mentioned  in  a 
Mortuario  of  the  Florentine  Duomo  as  Mater  Magi$tri  Arnolplii  (Vasari, 
vol.  i.  p.  249,  note  4 ;  Kunsthlatt,  no.  64-,  a.d.  1839,  Article  by  Gaye,  on 
Promi.*). 

X  Schultz,  De7iJcmalerder  KunH  in  Unter  Italicn,  vol.  iv.  p.  50  no.  cxxviiL 

§  Vermiglioli  {op.  cit.  p.  32)  suggests  that  Arnolfo  may  have  made  the 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  of  the  first  basiu. 


Arnolfo  di  Canibio.  ?; 

tliis  ider.  is  treated  with  a  simplicity  which  enhances  its  touch- 
ing sentiment. 

"  If  it  be  an  error,"  says  Mr.  Euskin,  "  it  is  an  error  so  full  of 
feeling  as  to  be  all  but  redeemed  and  altogether  forgiven,  and 
none  the  less  so  because  the  later  Pisaui  caricatured  it  (as  at 
Venice)  and  turned  the  quiet  curtained  canopy  into  a  huge  marblo 
tent  with  a  pole  stuck  in  the  middle  of  it."  At  Orvieto,  where 
Arnolfo  first  used  it,  it  appears  in  all  its  freshness.  The  re- 
cumbent statue  of  the  Cardinal  watched  over  by  angels,  with  a 
touching  and  eager  expression  of  sorrow,  lies  above  a  double 
basement,  which  is  adorned  with  mosaics  disposed  in  geometrical 
patterns  ("  a  stella  "),  and  divided  into  niches  separated  by 
twisted  columns,  also  inlaid  with  mosaic.  Above  the  sepulchral 
effigy,  under  a  Gothic  tabernacle,  sits  a  very  dignified  Madonna 
with  a  crown  upon  her  head,  from  beneath  which  a  veil  falls 
upon  her  shoulders.  Her  left  hand  supports  the  Divine  Child 
upon  her  knee,  and  her  right  rests  upon  the  ball  which  termi- 
nates the  arm  of  her  throne-chair,  on  either  side  of  which 
are  statuettes  of  St.  Dominic  and  a  companion  saint,  who 
present  to  her  the  kneeling  Cardinal  de  Braye.  Thi^  monu- 
ment is  one  of  the  most  finished  works  of  the  Pisan  school. 
It  contains  one  strikingly  original  idea,  and  many  exquisite 
details,  and  although  it  is  the  only  well-authenticated  work  of 
Arnolfo  in  which  sculpture  plays  an  important  part,  it  suffices  to 
give  him  fame  as  an  architectural  sculptor.  Some  writers  sup- 
pose that  at  this  time  (1285),  he  made  the  very  beautiful  Gothic 
tabernacle  at  San  Paolo  f.  m.  at  Kome,  which  still  represents 
the  glories  of  llie  old  Basilica  amid  the  cold  splendours  of  the 
new,  w'ule  on  the  other  hand  authorities  of  equal  weight  deny 
it,  on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  then  have  left  Florence, 
owing  to  his  great  and  pressing  occupations.  Considering  his 
widespread  reputation,  and  the  inscription  upon  the  tabernacle,* 

*  Inscription — 

"  Anno  milleno  centum  bis  et  octuageno 
Quinto  snmme  Ds.  qd.  hie  abbas  Eartholomreus 
Fecit  op.  fieri  sibi  tu  dignare  merer!. 

Hoc  opus  fecit  Arnolfus cum  suo  socio  Petro.'' 

An  Abbot  Bartholomew  ruled  over  the  convent  of  St.  Paul's  from 
1282  to  1297  {Neue  Eumische  Briefe,  vol.  i.  p.  99).  The  following  authors 
believe  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  to  have  made  or  designed  this  tabernacle : 
Gaye,   Kunsthlatt,  no.  64,  1839;    Rumohr,  It.  Forsch.   vol.  il  p.    156; 


26      Historical  Handbook  of  Italiajt  Sculpture. 

we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  he  designed  it  at  Florence,  and 
sent  his  scholar  Pietro  to  execute  it.*  Could  this  be  proved,  it 
would  give  to  Arnolfo  the  glory  of  having  introduced  a  Gothic 
taste  into  the  Roman  school,  then  represented  by  Adeodatus 
and  Giovanni  Cosmati,  as  they  thenceforward  gave  up  the 
round  arch  and  horizontal  line  and  imitated  the  model  set 
before  them.  The  Tuscan  character  of  tLe  statuettes  of 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  Luke  and  Benedict,  placed  above  the 
capitals  of  the  column  which  supports  the  canopy,  and  of 
the  gable-reliefs  of  Abel  and  Cain  offering  sacrifice,  Adam 
and  Eve,  and  flying  angels,  and  the  decided  superiority  of  the 
whole  structure  in  design  and  workmanship  to  known  Cosma- 
tesque  works,  further  authorize  the  belief  that  it  is  not  a  work 
of  their  school.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  tomb  of  Pope 
Boniface  VIII.  now  in  the  crypt  of  S.  Peter's,  of  the  altar  of 
St.  Boniface,  and  of  the  tomb  of  Pope  Honorius  III.  which  stood 
in  a  now  destroyed  chapel  at  Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  for  all  of 
which  Arnolfo  may  have  furnished  designs. 

To  comprehend  what  he  did  for  Florence,  we  have  but  to 
look  down  uj^on  that  fair  city  from  one  of  the  neighbouring 
eminences,  and  note  that  the  walls  which  encompass  it,  and 
all  the  most  striking  objects  which  greet  the  eye,  the  Cathedral, 
the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Sta.  Croce,  and  Or  San  Michele,  are  his 
creations.  Tbeir  purely  architectural  character  puts  them  out 
of  the  scope  of  this  work,  otherwise  than  through  a  passing 
allusion,  which  cannot  but  make  the  personality  of  Arnolfo 
more  important  in  the  reader's  ej^es.  He  did  not  live  to  see 
any  of  them  completed,  nor  can  he  be  said  to  have  founded  a 
school  of  the  original  style  of  architecture  which  they  repre- 
sent, perhaps  because  it  was  really  rather  a  decoration  than  an 
architecture.  Giotto  made  exquisite  use  of  it  in  his  campanile, 
but  even  in  Florence  its  further  development  was  checked  by 
Orgagna,  and  elsewhere  by  other  Florentine  artists,  who  when 
working  at   Venice  and  in  other   parts  of   Italy,   suited  their 

Cicognai'i,  8t.  della  8culht,ra,  vol.  iii.  p.  265;  and  C.  Boito,  Arch.  Cosma- 
icsca,  p.  29 ;  while  Promis  {Ant.  Mar.  Rom.  pp.  28,  29)  doubts  it,  as  does 
Ecumont  {Neue  Bom.  Br.  vol.  i.  p.  102).  Vasari  and  Baldinucci  make  no 
mention  of  it. 

*  This  artist  cannot  be  identified  with  Giotto's  scholar,  Pietro  Cavallini, 
who  is  first  heard  of  in  1308,  twenty-three  years  after  the  erection  of  tbo 
tabernacle  (1285). 


Giovanni  Pisano.  27 

designs  to  local  taste.  Arnolfo,  who  died  in  the  year  1310,  had 
two  sons,  Guiducoio  and  Alberto  (a  sculptor),  of  whom  we  know 
nothing  but  that  they,  like  their  father,  were  honoured  with  the 
citizenship  of  Florence.  An  inscription  let  into  the  wall  of  the 
Cathedral,  his  portrait  introduced  by  Giotto  into  a  fresco  which 
he  painted  in  Sta.  Croce,  and  a  statue  placed  in  our  own  day 
side  by  side  with  that  of  Brunelleschi,  opposite  the  Cathedral 
which  the  one  built  and  the  other  crowned  with  the  second 
greatest  dome  in  the  world,  are  the  only  memorials  to  one  of 
the  most  illustrious  of  Italian  artists. 

One  such  scholar  would  have  sufficiently  honoured  the  name 
of  Niccola  Pisano,  but  it  was  made  doubly  famous  by  a  second 
of  equally  remarkable  ability,  and  this  his  own  and  only  son 
Giovanni,  who  was  born  at  Pisa  about  1250.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen,  v.'hen  he  worked  with  his  father  at  Siena,  he  must  have 
occupied  an  independent  position,  for  his  co-operation  is 
spoken  of  in  the  contract  for  the  pulpit  as  a  matter  subject  to 
his  own  decision,  while  that  of  his  fellow  pupils  is  promised 
by  Niccola  at  a  fixed  salary.*  On  the  completion  of  their  work, 
father  and  son  Avent  to  Perugia  to  construct  the  Fountain  of 
which  we  have  already  spoken.  The  fifty  bas-reliefs  of  the 
lower  basin  by  Giovanni  bear  no  trace  of  that  marked  individu- 
ality, which  makes  his  later  work  easily  distinguishable  from 
that  of  Niccola,  and  show  that  he  developed  his  peculiar  style 
after  his  father's  death,  which  as  we  have  said  took  place  about 
1278.  It  brought  Giovanni  to  Pisa,  where  he  was  occupied 
for  the  next  five  years  in  building  the  Campo  Santo,  which 
was  constructed  to  enclose  the  sacred  earth  transported 
from  Calvary  by  Archbishop  Lanfranchi  (1108),  and  by  fifty 
Pisan  Galleys  on  their  return  from  the  crusade  undertaken  by 
Frederic  Barbarossa  (1178).'  Its  ground  plan  was  predeter- 
mined by  the  Archbishop,  who  had  caused  the  earth  to  be 
disposed  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelogram  according  to  the 
traditional  dimensions  of  Noah's  ark,  and  its  general  cha- 
racter  was  evidently  suggested  by  that  of  a  church-cloister.f 

*  Milauesi,  Doc.  Sanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  148. 

t  Public  cemeteries  apart  from  the  dwellings  of  men  were  first  used  in 
France,  and  then  in  other  parts  of  Europe.  In  early  Christian  times  the 
dead  were  buried  in  cliurches,  thence  called  Caemiteria.  Decrees  of  the 
early  Councils  afterwards  restricted  burial  to  the  porticos  of  churches, 
but  this  usage  also  was  abandoned  from  fear  of  pestilence. 


28      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  SculpttLre. 

Shut  in  from  the  outer  world  by  long  ranges  of  windowless  walls, 
whose  surface  is  agreeably  broken  by  rows  of  blind  arches,  it 
opens  to  the  "  God's  acre  "  within,  through  the  arcade  which 
separates  it  from  the  surrounding  corridors.  As  the  traveller 
paces  them,  he  looks  on  the  one  hand  at  the  impressive  frescoes 
upon  the  upper  part  of  the  inside  walls  and  at  the  antique 
sarcophagi  below  them,  and  on  the  other,  catches  glimpses 
through  the  doorways  opening  into  the  quadrangle  of  the 
graves,  the  cypresses  which  overshadow  them,  and  the  roses  which 
bloom  above  them.  Eloquent  of  the  life  beyond  the  grave,  the 
Campo  Santo  with  its  trophies  of  Pisan  valour  and  its  historic 
marbles,  speaks  also  of  man's  doings  in  this  world.  There 
hang  the  chains  which  vainly  closed  the  harbour  of  Palermo 
against  the  attack  of  Pisan  galleys,  and  thei'e  stand  the  antique 
sarcophagi  which  Niccola  Pisano  studied,  with  many  marbles 
sculptured  by  masters  of  the  Pisan,  Sienese  and  Florentine 
schools,  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  nineteenth  century. 

Among  them  is  an  allegorical  image  of  the  city  of  Pisa, 
one  of  Giovanni's  most  important  works.  It  represents  her  as  a 
crowned  and  draped  woman,  holding  two  diminutive  children  at 
her  breasts  as  emblems  of  her  fertility,  and  girdled  with  a  cord, 
whose  seven  knots  typify  her  dominion  over  as  many  Medi- 
terranean islands.  She  stands  upon  a  pedestal  having  figures  of 
Prudence,  Temperance,  Fortitude  and  Justice  at  its  four  corners, 
and  eagles,  in  allusion  to  her  Pioman  origin,  upon  its  sides, 
and  as  an  example  of  Giovanni's  fully  formed  style  with  all 
its  merits  and  defects  is  a  most  interesting  object.  The 
intensity  of  expression  and  the  dramatic  feeling  of  the 
statue,  whose  sly  glance  seems  on  the  watch  for  some  strange 
coming,  the  treatment  of  the  nude  figure  of  Temperance, 
whose  classically  knotted  hair  and  Venus-like  pose  recall  the 
antique,  and  the  generally  careful  disposition  of  the  draperies, 
are  all  points  worthy  of  commendation,  while  the  extreme  ugliness 
of  the  faces,  the  defective  proportions  of  the  forms,  and  the 
mannered  attitude  of  the  principal  figure,  would  be  worthy  of 
blame,  were  we  not  forced  to  take  into  account  the  immense  and 
untried  difficulties  encountered  by  the  sculptor  in  modelling  one 
of  the  first  large  statues  made  in  Italy  since  the  days  of  Constan- 
tine.  From  its  general  character  we  suppose  that  the  work  is 
about  coeval  in  date  with  the  fragments  of  a  pulpit  in  another 


Giovanni  Pisano.  29 

part  of  the  corridor,  wliicli  he  made  for  the  Cathedral  before 
1311,  that  is,  thirty-two  years  after  he  built  the  Camj^o 
Sauto.  They  consist  of  three  female  figures  clustered  round 
the  shaft  of  a  column,  and  an  apostolic  looking  figure  of 
Justice  standing  upon  a  base  adorned  with  reliefs  of  the  seven 
sciences.  The  six  reliefs  now  in  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral,  which 
Giovanni  made  for  the  same  pulpit,  represent  incidents  in  the 
life  of  Jesus  from  his  birth  to  his  crucifixion.  They  are 
characterised  by  a  want  of  repose  and  a  tendency  to  an 
exaggerated  expression  of  sentiment,  and  in  so  far  as  they  show 
the  sculptor's  endeavour  to  attain  truth  to  nature  rather  than 
classical  correctness,  they  remind  us  far  more  of  Giotto  than  of 
Niccola  Pisano.  Among  Giovanni's  other  works  at  Pisa,*  we 
may  here  mention  a  Madonna  signed  with  his  name  over  the 
door  of  the  Baptistry,  a  half  figure  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  in 
the  Campo  Santo,  and  a  very  carefully  sculptured  ivory  statuette 
of  the  Madonna  and  Child  in  the  Sacristy  of  the  Cathedral  {see 
tail-piece),  together  with  a  carved  reliquary  of  the  same  material. 
We  are  unable  to  give  any  fixed  date  to  these  works,  and  in  order 
to  take  up  the  chronological  sequence  of  his  career  must  return  to 
the  year  1283,  when  he  completed  the  Campo  Santo. f  In  that 
building  as  he  left  it|  there  were  no  Gothic  elements,  but  this 
is  far  from  being  the  case  with  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Siena,  which  he  in  all  probability  designed  immediately  after 
leaving  Pisa.§  Holding  the  office  of  Head-Architect,  to  which 
he  was  then  appointed,  his  return  to  Siena  was  marlvcd  by 
special  civic  favours,  showing  the  great  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held.  In  order  to  induce  him  to  remain  there,  the  magis- 
trates made  him  a  citizen,  exemj^ted  him  from  all  taxes  for 

*  The  Gothic  church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Spina,  attributed  to 
Gio.  Pisano  by  Vasari,  was  not  begun  until  1323,  three  years  after  his 
death.  See  Schultz,  o^.  cit.  voh  vii.  p.  6,  note  3 ;  and  Burckhardt's, 
Cicerone,  iv.  ed.  p.  62. 

t  That  Giovanni  went  to  ISTaples  at  this  time,  as  stated  by  Vasari,  is 
very  doubtful. 

X  The  Gothic  window  traceries  and  other  ornaments  in  the  pointed 
style  about  the  building,  are  of  a  later  date.     Ciampi,  Belli  Arrcdi,  p.  44. 

§  This  church  existed  a.d.  947,  under  the  name  of  Santa  JNIaria 
Assunta.  It  was  enlarged  in  1089,  and  consecrated  by  Alexander  II.  in 
1179.  According  to  Malavolti,  the  new  church  was  begun  in  1245. 
See  Historical  Stadi^it,  etc.,  by  C.  E.  Norton,  p.  93. 


30      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture-. 

life,  and  that  lie  might  continue  to  work  without  hindrance, 
absolved  him  from  certain  penalties  to  which  he  had  for  some 
unknown  reason  subjected  himself.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
how  far  the  facade  was  advanced  under  Giovanni  during  his 
three  years'  residence  at  Siena,  but  it  is  certain  that  whatever  he 
may  have  done  his  original  design  was  much  modified  by  suc- 
ceeding architects,  who  are,  perhaps,  answerable  for  the  want 
of  clearness  and  simplicity  which  strikes  us  when  we  vainly 
seek  to  extricate  the  main  lines  of  the  edifice  from  the  maze  of 
parti-coloured  marbles,  statues,  bas-reliefs,  mosaics,  lions,  horses 
and  griffins  scattered  over  its  surface.*  With  all  its  defects  it  is, 
however,  a  splendid  work,  and  also  one  of  the  most  striking 
examples  of  the  then  increasing  influence  of  the  great  French 
and  German  Cathedrals  upon  Italian  taste.  After  Giovanni  left 
Siena,  notwithstanding  the  many  inducements  held  out  to  him 
to  remain  there,  he  devoted  himself  almost  exclusively  to  sculp- 
ture.f  The  tranquil  course  of  his  days  contrasts  strikingly  with 
the  tumultuous  times  in  which  he  lived,  when  ever-surging  feuda 
would  have  checked  the  growth  of  Art  had  it  been  less  exclusively 
the  servant  of  religion  than  it  was.  The  long  struggle  between 
the  Church  and  the  Suabian  princes  which  Niccola  Pisano  had 
outlived,  was  followed  in  the  lifetime  of  his  son  by  that 
between  the  people  and  their  rulers,  when  Italian  cities  were 
divided  by  hostile  factions,  or  pitted  against  each  other  on 
bloody  battle  fields.  Siena  warred  with  Florence  ;  Pisa  against 
native  tyrants  and  the  Genoese ;  the  Ghibelline  exiles  made 
ready  at  Arezzo  for  the  fight  in  the  plain  of  Campaldino  in 
which  Dante  took  part,  and  the  Bianchi  and  Neri  were  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  the  streets  of  Pistoja.  Meanwhile 
Giovanni,  like  other  artists  of  his  day,  pursued  his  occupations 
without  let  or  hindrance,  and  carved  the  altar  and  the  monu- 
ment for  church  or  cloister  undisturbed  by  the  tumult  of  popular 
strife,  which  like  sea  waves  upon  rocks  broke  harmlessly  against 
their  peaceful  walls. 

We  have  no  reliable  record  of  Giovanni  Pisano,  from  the  year 

*  The  lions,  horses  and  griffins  are  the  emblems  of  Arezzo  and 
Perugia. 

t  We  do  not  know  the  date  of  his  departure,  but  his  name  appears  in 
the  registers  of  the  cathedral  under  the  years  1284,  90,  96  and  99. 
Milan esi,  Doc.  i.  p.  1G2. 


Giovanni  Pisano.  31 

12Sl5,  when  he  left  Siena,  to  the  year  1300,  when  he  went  to 
Pistoja  to  commence  a  pulpit  for  the  church  of  Saut'  Andrea. 
During  a  part  of  this  time  he  is  said  to  have  made  a  now 
destroyed  monument  of  Pope  Urhan  IV.  for  the  Cathedral  at 
Perugia,  and  it  has  until  recently  been  supposed  that  after  com- 
pleting it  he  went  to  Ai'ezzo  to  sculpture  the  shrine  of  San 
Donato,  which  is  now  known  to  be  the  work  of  another 
Giovanni,  the  son  of  Francesco  d'Arezzo,  and  Betto  di  Fran- 
cesco da  Firenze,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.* 
That  it  was  not  made  by  Giovanni  Pisano  had  long  been 
suspected  from  the  un-Pisan  character  of  the  Madonna  who 
sits  above  the  altar  and  the  inferiority  of  its  bas-reliefs  to 
those  known  to  be  by  this  sculptor.  At  this  period  of  his 
life  his  style  was  so  marked  that  it  could  hardly  be  mistaken, 
as  any  one  may  see  who  looks  at  the  pulpit  of  Sant'  Andrea  at 
Pistoja,  upon  which  he  began  to  work  in  the  year  1302.  As 
this  work,  which  may  be  regarded  as  Giovanni's  master-piece, 
resembles  the  pulpits  at  Pisa  and  Siena  in  its  general  features, 
we  need  only  say  that  its  dimensions  tally  very  nearly  with 
those  of  the  first,  and  pass  on  to  its  five  bas-reliefs  of  the 
Birth  of  Christ,  the  Adoration,  the  Crucifixion,  the  Last  Judg- 
ment and  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  which  latter  seems  to 
us  the  most  forcible  representation  of  this  painful  subject  to  be 
found  in  Italian  art. 

The  artist's  deep  dramatic  feeling  shows  itself  in  the  Herod, 
who  looks  down  with  sullen  satisfaction  upon  the  maddened 
soldiers,  and  in  the  women,  one  of  whom  bows  in  speechless 
grief  over  the  body  of  her  child  while  the  other  struggles  to 
save  her  darling  from  a  like  fate.  The  Crucifixion  and  the  Last 
Judgment  are  less  striking  than  the  Massacre,  but  the  first  con- 
tains an  admirable  group  of  women  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and 
the  second  is  powerfully  treated  throughout.  It  is,  however,  like 
the  bas-reliefs  at  Pisa  and  Siena  of  the  same  subject,  overcrowded 
and  confused.  Some  lingering  trace  of  Niccola's  influence 
shows  itself  in  the  statuettes  about  the  pulpit  which  represent 
the  virtues  under  classical  forms — as  for  instance  the  Fortitude 
as  Hercules,  like  that  at  Pisa — but  as  a  rule,  the  tendency  to 
clothe  Christian  ideas  in  a  Pagan  dress  is  far  less  conspicuous. 

*  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  311,  note  1. 


32      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpt 2ire. 


The  new  spirit  reveals  itself  in  the  fine  statue  of  an  angel  with 
a  book,  typical  of  St.  Matthew,  grouped  with  the  winged 
Lion,  the  Ox,  and  the  Eagle,  respectively  symbolic  of  his 
brother   evangelists.     Having  greatly  increased  his  reputation 

by  this  admirable  work,  Giovanni  turned 
his  steps  towards  Florence,  where  he 
reasonably  hoped  to  find  a  fresh  field 
for  the  exerci::e  of  his  talents,  but 
in  this  he  was  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment, as  for  some  unknown  reason 
he  failed  to  find  that  patronage  at 
the  hands  of  the  Florentines  which 
his  fellow  pupil  Arnolfo  di  Cambio 
had  met  with  during  his  long  resi- 
dence among  them.  He  left  but  one 
record  of  his  visit,  -namely,  the  Ma- 
donna and  Angels  in  the  lunette  of 
the  so-called  Porta  della  Canonica  on 
the  cast  side  of  the  Cathedral.  To 
this  group  he  may  have  owed  his 
introduction  to  the  Cardinal  Matteo 
d'Aquasparta,  through  whose  influence 
he  obtained  the  commission  for  a 
proposed  monument  to  Pope  Benedict 
XI.,  who  had  lately  died  at  Perugia  after  eating  of  poisoned 
figs  from  a  basket  which  his  enemy  Philippe  le  Bel  had 
caused  to  be  pr.  pared  for  him.  On  his  accession  to  the 
Papacy  Benedict  had  sustained  the  King's  policy,  and  re- 
voked the  decrees  of  his  predecessor,  Boniface  VIII.,  against 
him,  but  when  Philip  demanded  that  the  late  pope  should 
be  declared  a  heretic,  and  that  all  those  who  had  taken 
part  in  his  humiliation  at  Anagni  should  be  excommuni- 
cated, Benedict  refused  to  comply,  and  soon  after  met  the  fate 
of  those  who  opposed  the  will  of  the  unscrupulous  king.  The 
nine  months'  session  of  the  Sacred  College  which  followed 
upon  this  event,  gave  Philip  time  to  mature  his  plans  for  getting 
the  Papacy  into  his  power,  and  it  was  mainly  by  the  timely 
advice  of  the  Cardinal  Aquasparta  that  he  eventually  secured 
the  election  of  a  French  Cardinal,  Bertrand  de  Got,  who  under 
the  name  of  Clement  V.  was  crowned  at  Lyons,  and  took  up 


Giovanni  Pisano.  33 

his  abode  at  Avignon.  Meanwhile  Giovanni  Pisano  liad  com- 
menced to  work  upon  the  monument  to  Philip's  victim,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Domenic  at  Perugia.  Before  designing  it,  he 
must  have  seen  Arnolfo  di  Cambio's  tomb  to  Cardinal  de 
Braye,  in  which,  as  we  have  already  said,  angels  drawing 
back  curtains  from  the  recess  which  contains  the  sepul- 
chral effigy  first  appear.  Struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  idea, 
Giovanni  appropriated  it,  following  an  example  which  was 
widely  adopted  by  sculptors  of  the  Pisan  school.  In  the 
monument  to  Pope  Benedict  the  effigy  of  the  deceased,  thus 
watched  over  by  angels,  lies  stretched  upon  a  sarcophagus  under 
a  lofty  Gothic  canopy  supported  upon  twisted  columns  whose 
spirals  are  decorated  with  mosaic.  The  little  nude  figures 
climbing  up  their  shafts  were  jDrobably  introduced  to  enhance 
the  richness  of  the  general  effect ;  at  least  no  better  reason 
for  their  use  in  such  a  place  suggests  itself. 

Between  1305  and  6,  when  Giovanni  Pisano  sculptured  this 
papal  tomb,  and  1311,  when  he  began  the  pulpit  for  the  Cathe- 
dral at  Pisa,  we  have  no  certain  data  concerning  him.  In  the 
interval  he  may  have  made  the  very  impressive  monument  of  St. 
Margaret  at  Cortona,  though  it  is  somewhat  doubtful  if  it  be  his 
work.  Like  that  of  Pope  Benedict  it  has  the  sepulchral  effigy,  the 
curtained  recess  and  the  watching  angels,  together  with  bas-reliefs 
representing  the  Magdalen  washing  the  Saviour's  feet,  the  raising 
of  Lazarus,  the  investiture  of  the  penitent  Saint,  and  the 
bearing  of  her  soul  to  heaven  by  Angels.  Its  Pisan  character 
is  unmistakable,  but  as  the  monument  is  better  in  design  than  in 
execution,  we  may  not  be  far  wrong  in  supposing  that  Giovanni 
planned  it,  and  entrusted  the  carrying  out  of  his  design  to 
some  one  or  more  of  his  scholars,  of  whom  eight  are  known 
to  us,  namely,  Leonardo  who  assisted  him  in  making  a  holy 
water  vase  for  the  Church  of  San  Piero  near  Pisa  ;  Bernardo 
his  son,  who  was  an  architect  and  at  one  time  "  Capo  maesti'o  " 
of  the  Cathedral  at  Pisa  ;  Andrea  Pisano,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  Italian  sculptors ;  the  four  Sienese,  Agostino  di  Giovanni, 
Agnolo  di  Ventura,  Tino  di  Camaino,  and  Ciolo  di  Ventura, 
and  the  Pistojan,  Jacopo  di  Matteo. 

Among  the  uncertain  works  of  Giovanni  we  must  not  omit 
to  mention  the  monument  of  Enrico  degli  Scrovegni  in  the 
Arena  Chapel    at  Padua.     If  he  died  in  1321  and  Giovanni  in 

D 


34      Historical  Handboolc  of  Italian  Sculptm'e. 

1320,  it  cannot  be  his  work,  nor  is  it  likely  to  be  such  if  both 
died  in  the  same  year.  If  however  Giovanni  lived  until  1329 
as  Milanesi  asserts,*  we  might  accept  him  as  its  sculptor, 
were  it  not  that  its  style  indicates  a  Venetian  hand.  The 
portrait  statue  of  the  same  Scrovegno  at  an  earlier  period  of  his 
life,  near  the  choir  of  the  Chapel,  and  the  Madonna  and  Child, 
look  much  more  like  Giovanni's  work,  and  may  be  taken  as  such. 

Two  years  after  the  death  of  the  Princess  Margaret  (1311), 
wife  of  the  Emperor  Henry  II.,  Giovanni  erected  her  tomb 
in  S.  Francesco  di  Castellato  at  Yoltri,  of  which  a  few  fragments 
exist  in  the  neighbourhood  at  the  Villa  Brignole  Sale. 

A  grave  slab  in  front  of  the  archiepiscopal  palace  at  Siena, 
which  was  set  up  twenty  years  before  Giovanni's  death,  indicates 
that  he  intended  to  be  buried  there,  but  as  he  died  at  Pisa  his 
fellow- citizens  laid  him  in  the  same  sarcophagus  with  his  father. 
This  is  not  distinguishable  among  the  many  at  the  Campo 
Santo,  where  the  only  memorial  of  these  two  artists  to  whom 
Pisa  owes  so  much  of  her  fame,  is  a  modern  tablet  set  up  by 
the  curator  Lasinio.     The  inscription  upon  it  is  as  follows ; — 

In  memoriam  Niccolae  Pisani  et  Jobannis  fili, 

Sculptore  artis  restitutoruin. 
Hen  !  principe  Pisanis  artifices 

Hie  jacerent  sine  titnto. 

*  Yasari,  ed.  Miiauesi,  vol.  i.  p.  310. 


•^•^iA»ase  ./>- 


Andrea  Pisano  and  his  Scholars.  35 


CHAPTER  III, 

ANDBEA  PISANO    AND   HIS    SCnOLAr.3. 

Andrea  Pisano,  the  most  eminent  of  Giovanni  Pisano'a 
scholars,  born  at  Ponteclera  about  the  year  1270,  was  the  son 
of  a  notary  of  Pisa  named  Ugolino  di  Nino.*  No  record  of  his 
early  youth  and  manhood  exists,  and  it  is  not  until  he  wa3 
nearly  sixty  that  we  have  any  reliable  iaformation  concerning 
him,  though  we  have  ground  for  believing  that  when  he  was 
thirty-five  he  spent  a  year  at  Venice,!  during  which  he  sculp- 
tured several  statuettes  for  the  facade  of  St.  Mark's,  and  made 
designs  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  arsenal  which  were  subse- 
quently carried  out  by  Filippo  Calendario.t  Andrea's  visit  to 
Venice  would  become  an  important  fact  in  the  history  of  Italian 
sculpture  could  it  be  proved  that  this  ill-fated  Venetian  archi- 
tect and  sculptor,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
elsewhere,  studied  under  him  and  carved  the  capitals  of  the 
columns  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  whose  Tuscan  affinities  of  style 
seem  to  give  ground  for  the  conjecture  that  they  were  sculp- 
tured under  a  foreign  influence.  In  1330  Ave  find  Andrea  at 
Florence,  with   so  great  a  reputation  as  a  bronze  caster,§  that 

*  Andrea  is  mentioned  as  *'  famulus  Magistri  Johannis  "  iu  the  arcliives 
of  the  Pisan  Duomo,  1299-1305  (Ciampi,  op.  cit.  p.  47). 

t  Vasari"s  doubtful  assertion  (vol.  i.  p.  486,  ed.  Milanesi)  is  confirmed  by 
a  MS.,  -whicli  Orlandi  cites  iu  the  Ahecedario  Pittorico,  and  (as  it  appeared 
to  Cicognara)  by  ancient  Venetian  chronicles,  in  which,  however,  Andrea 
is  not  mentioned  by  name.  Selvatico,  op.  cit.  pp.  110,  111,  states  his 
belief  that  the  style  of  the  Pisani  penetrated  into  Venice  through 
Andrea. 

X  Hanged  in  1354,  as  implicated  in  the  conspiracy  of  Marino  Faliero 

§  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  487,  note  2,  ascribes  the  crucifix  of 
bronze,  which  Vasari  says  Andrea  sent  as  a  present  to  Pope  Clement  V. 
at  Avignon,  to  Andrea  Arditi,  a  Florentine  goldsmith. 

D    2 


36      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctilptitre. 

he  obtained  the  commission  for  those  noble  gates  of  the  Bap* 
tistry  which  are  his  chief  and  enduring  title  to  fame.  He 
began  them  on  the  22nd  of  January,  and  completed  the  models 
of  the  reliefs  in  wax  on  the  2nd  of  April,  with  the  assistance 
of  three  Florentine  goldsmiths,  Piero  di  Jacopo,  Lippo  di  Dino, 
and  Piero  di  Donato,  whose  share  in  the  work  is  unknown. 

The  gates  were  unsuccessfully  cast  in  1332  by  a  Maestro 
Lionardo,  son  of  a  bell-maker  of  Venice  named  Avanzo,  and 
the  work  had  to  be  recommenced  by  Andrea  himself,  who  on 
the  24th  of  July,  1333,  agreed  also  to  model  twenty-four 
lions'  heads,  and  to  have  them  cast  and  gilded  by  the  1st 
of  December.  The  second  casting,  which  he  superintended, 
proved  satisfactory  in  every  respect,  and  the  gates  were  finished 
and  set  up  in  1336,*  opposite  the  Cathedral,  in  the  place  after- 
wards occupied  by  Ghiberti's  second  gate.  The  twenty  large 
panels  contain  reliefs  representing  leading  events  in  the  life  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist ;  and  the  eight  of  a  smaller  size  are 
adorned  with  allegorical  figures  of  Faith,  Hope,  Force,  Temper- 
ance, Charity,  Humility,  Justice,  and  Prudence.  In  considering 
the  compositions,  we  are,  in  the  first  place,  struck  with  the  antique 
simplicity  of  the  means  employed  to  relate  the  stories.  Where 
Niccola  or  Giovanni  Pisano  would  have  brought  in  a  crowd  of 
figures,  Andrea  contented  himself  with  a  very  few,  and  thus 
avoided  that  confusion  of  line  and  overloading  of  space  which 
mar  their  best  work.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  bas-relief  of 
Zacharias  called  upon  to  name  the  Child,  but  four  persons  are 
introduced,  a  venerable  old  man  writing  at  a  table,  a  youth, 
and  two  women ;  and  again,  in  the  Burial  of  St.  John  there 
are  but  seven  figures,  namely,  four  who  lower  the  Saint's  body 
into  the  sarcophagus,  one  who  holds  up  a  part  of  the  winding- 
sheet,  an  old  man  praying  with  clasped  hands,  and  a  young 
monk  holding  a  torch. 

In  the  second  place,  we  admire  the  sobriety  and  elegance  of 
the  architectural  accessories,  as  in  the  last-named  composition, 

*  The  inscription  upon  tlie  gates  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Andreas  Ugolini  Nini  de  Pisis  me  fecit,  a.d.  mcccxxx.*' 

The  elaborate  frieze  around  them  was  begun  by  L.  Ghiberti  and  his 
son  Vittorio,  in  1454.  After  Ghiberti's  death  in  1455,  it  was  completed 
by  Vittorio,  Ant.  PoUajuolo,  and  other  pupils. 


Andrea  Pisano.  2>7 

where  the  figures  are  enframed  by  and  sheltered  under  a  Gothic 
canopy.  Thirdly,  we  see  that  the  draperies  are  disposed  in 
broad  folds,  which  accentuate  form  without  concealing  it,  and 
fourthly,  that  the  figures  are  rhythmically  disposed,  as  in  the 
Burial,  where  the  four  disciples  who  sustain  the  corpse  bend 
forward  by  a  simultaneous  movement,  which  contrasts  happily 
with  that  of  each  of  the  other  figures.  The  same  praise  may  be 
given  to  the  Baptism,  the  Beheading  of  St.  John,  the  Dance  of 
Herodias,  &c.,  as  to  the  two  compositions  of  which  we  have 
been  speaking,  and  also  to  the  Virtues  upon  the  small  panels 
— of  all  such  personifications  perhaps  the  most  admirable. 

If  we  compare  them  with  those  painted  by  Giotto  at  Padua  some 
thirty  years  earlier,  it  is  not  to  point  out  any  resemblance,  but 
to  appreciate  the  diff"erence  between  Andrea's  truly  plastic,  and 
Giotto's  thoroughly  pictorial  conceptions  of  the  same  subject. 
The  *'  Spes  "  of  the  sculptor,  like  that  of  the  painter,  raises 
her  arms  to  grasp  a  celestial  crown,  but  while  the  first  is 
a  seated,  the  second  is  a  flying  figure.  Other  parallel  subjects 
in  the  two  series  show  the  same  essential  difi'erences  in  con- 
ception, which  seem  to  prove  that  the  influence  of  Giotto  over 
Andrea  did  not  affect  his  essentially  plastic  style,  though 
it  may  have  quickened  his  perception  of  the  mystical  and 
spiritual  in  Art.  These  qualities  are,  however,  even  more 
conspicuous  in  the  reliefs  upon  the  gate  of  the  Baptistr}', 
which  are  not  in  any  way  connected  with  Giotto,  than  in  those 
of  the  Arts  and  Sciences  upon  the  sides  of  the  Campanile, 
some  of  which,  Ghiberti  tells  us  in  his  Second  Commentary, 
were  modelled  by  Giotto  himself,  while  others  were  sculptured 
by  Andrea  after  Giotto's  designs.*  This  may  be  so,  but  to  us 
they  seem  Giottesque  only  so  far  as  they  are  conceived  in  the 
naturalistic  spirit  of  the  Florentine,  rather  than  in  the  old 
classical  spirit  of  the  early  Pisan  school,  which  shows  itself  only 
in  the  attributes  of  the  Hercules.  As  in  the  reliefs  by  Andrea 
on  the  gates  of  the  Baptistry,  the  action  is  carried  on  with  few 
exceptions  by  one  or  two  figures,  treated  in  the  same  simple 
style,  which  becomes  unusually  animated  in  the  Equitation,  a 

spirited  figure  on  horseback,  and  in  the  Agriculture,  a  group 

i 

*  The  five  reliefs  on  the  side  of  the  Campanite  towards  the  Cathedral 
are  by  Luca  della  Robbia.     See  chap.  iii.  book  ii.  p.  13!). 


1473S1 


38      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

of  men  and  oxen  ploughing.  In  all  essentials  they  are  like 
Andrea,  and  were  it  not  for  tradition,  we  doubt  whether  Giotto's 
co-operation  would  have  been  thought  of.  The  truth  would 
seem  to  be  that  the  great  painter  and  architect,  not  being 
himself  a  sculptor,  engaged  Andrea  to  adorn  the  Campanile 
Avith  reliefs,  and  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral  (which  was  far 
advanced  at  the  time  of  his  death)  with  statues.*  One  of 
these,  long  hidden  in  a  corner  of  the  Oricellari  gardens, 
represents  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  clad  in  pontifical  robes,  and 
with  a  very  tall  tiara  upon  his  head.  Though  stiff,  it  is 
dignified  in  bearing,  and  in  its  present  mutilated  condition 
strikingly  suggestive  of  the  miserable  state  of  helplessness  to 
which  this  proud  Pontiff  was  finally  reduced  by  Philippe  le  Bel 
of  France.  The  only  other  sculptural  works  by  Andrea  known 
to  us  are  a  bas-relief  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  on  the  out- 
side of  the  Bigallo  at  Florence,  and  another  in  the  Campo 
Santo  at  Pisa,  with,  perhaps,  some  of  the  statuettes  in  tho 
Villa  Medici  at  Castello. 

He  built  many  palaces,  villas,  and  castles  in  and  abou^ 
Florence,  strengthened  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  for  the  tyrant 
Walter  de  Brienne,  whom  the  citizens  had  in  an  evil  hour 
(1341)  made  Captain  and  "  Conservatore  "  of  the  People,  and 
began  to  build  the  Baptistry  at  Pistoja,  with  the  assistance  of 
M"-  Cellino  di  Nese,  a  Sienese  architect.  He  died  at  Florence 
in  1345,  and  was  buried  in  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral,  near 
the  pulpit,  under  a  monumental  slab,  which  has  long  since 
disappeared.  His  scholars  were  his  sons,  Nino  and  Tommaso, 
Alberti  Arnoldi,  Giovanni  Balduccio  of  Pisa,  and  the  world- 
renowned  Andrea  Orgagua, 

Alberto  Arnoldi,  whom  we  shall  first  mention,t  was  the  son 
of  a  Lombard  stone  carver  of  the  same  name,  who  in  the  early 

*  Vasari  says  that  Andrea  made  statues  of  the  four  Doctors  of  the 
Church,  and  of  SS.  Stephen  and  Lorenzo  for  the  facade.  Mihinesi 
doubts  it,  as  it  is  not  until  after  1357  that  the  registers  of  the  Cathedral 
make  mention  of  statues  to  be  made  for  it.  These  registers  show  that 
the  commission  for  the  statues  of  the  four  Doctors  of  the  Church  was 
given  to  Pietro  di  Giovanni,  and  to  Niocolo  di  Piero  d'Arezzo,  in  1396; 
and  that  in  1391  the  last  naraed^sculptor  was  working  on  the  S.  Stephen. 
Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  484,  note.     See  Appendix,  Letter  E. 

t  Mention  is  made  of  Alberto  Arnoldi  bj  Franco  Sacchetti,  Novella 
229,  and  Novella  13G. 


Alberto  A  mo  Id i  and  Nino  Pisano.  39 

part  of  tlie  fourteenth  century  took  up  his  residence  at  Florence, 
where  both  were  made  citizens.  The  sou  was  employed  in  1351, 
with  other  workmen,  to  decorate  Giotto's  Campanile  witli  coloured 
marbles.  lie  was  afterwards  made  head-master  of  the  Cathe- 
dral workshop  (Opera  del  Duomo),  and  in  1359  was  commis- 
sioned to  make  the  arch  of  the  great  portal  of  the  same 
building. 

In  sculpture,  properly  speaking,  he  is  known  to  us  only  by 
the  half  figure  of  the  Madonna  on  the  exterior  of  the  Bigallo, 
sculptured  in  1361,  and  long  erroneously  attributed  to  his 
master,  Andrea,  and  by  the  life-size  group  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child  with  angels,  which  stands  over  the  altar  of  the  Bigallo 
chapel.  The  contract  for  this  work,  dated  June  13th,  1359, 
stipulates  that  it  is  to  be  adorned,  that  is,  have  the  robe- 
borders,  &c.,  picked  out  with  gold,  and  to  be  of  equal  excel- 
lence with  the  Madonna  by  Andrea  Pisano  at  Pisa.  We  have 
no  doubt  that  Arnoldo  endeavoured  to  make  it  so,  for  the  work- 
manship is  in  every  respect  careful  and  conscientious,  but  to 
fulfil  such  a  promise  was  out  of  his  power.  The  statue,  which 
conforms  to  the  Pisan  type  of  treating  this  subject,  is  cold 
and  rigid.  A  certain  grandeur  is  given  to  the  group  by 
the  massive  folds  of  the  once  star-spangled  drapery  of  the 
Madonna,  which  falls  over  the  lower  limbs  of  the  Child,  who 
sits  poised  upon  her  left  arm,  but  the  faces  are  singularly 
inexpressive. 

Nino  Pisano,  the  son  and  scholar  of  Andrea,  was  a  much 
more  -genial  sculptor  than  his  fellow  pupil.  His  masterpiece, 
the  Madonna  della  Rosa  in  the  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  della 
Spina  at  Pisa,  is  a  gentle  Virgin,  who  holds  a  rose  in  her 
left  hand  which  the  child  Jesus  leans  forward  to  take,  and 
wears  a  crown  upon  her  head,  from  which  a  veil  falls  in  grace- 
ful folds  upon  her  shoulders.  The  sweetness  of  Nino's  manner 
is  here  kept  within  the  bounds  of  discretion,  but  it  degenerates 
into  mawkishness  in  the  statues  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Angel 
of  the  Annunciation  (incorrectly  called  Truth  and  Charity) 
in  the  Church  of  "  Sta.  Caterina  "  at  Pisa,  Avhose  eyes  and  hair 
were  coloured,  according  to  the  common  practice  of  the  time, 
and  their  draperies  picked  out  with  gold  but  faint  traces  of 
which  now  remain.  The  monument  of  Archbishop  Saltarclli, 
in  the  same    church,  was    at   least  designed  by  Nino.      Hia 


40      Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

death  occurred  about  1367,*  while  he  was  working  upon  a 
monument  to  the  Pisan  doge,  dell'  Agnello,  who  made  him- 
self odious  to  his  fellow  citizens  for  four  years  by  his  osten- 
tation and  his  exactions.  Tommaso  Pisano,  the  second  son 
of  Andrea,  who  was  architect,  sculptor,  painter,  and  gold- 
smith, built  the  upper  story  of  the  Leaning  Tower,  designed  a 
palace  for  the  Doge,  made  a  now  destroyed  monument  of  his 
wife,  the  Duchess  Margaret  for  whom  he  painted  two  chests 
("cassone"),  and  a  marble  Ancona  for  the  Church  of  San  Fran- 
cesco, now  in  the  Campo  Santo.  It  consists  of  six  Gothic 
niches,  whose  pointed  gables  are  filled  with  half-figures  of 
saints,  and  of  a  predella  covered  with  bas-reliefs.  Though 
rich  in  general  effect,  it  is  coarsely  sculptured,  and  the  poorly 
drawn  figures  have  none  of  Nino's  sweetness  of  feeling.  As 
it  looks  rather  like  the  work  of  a  goldsmith  than  of  a  sculptor, 
we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  Tommaso  was  more  skilful  in 
the  first  than  in  the  second  capacity. 

Moving  in  a  narrow  sphere,  the  two  sons  of  Andrea  Pisano 
could  do  nothing  towards  propagating  the  principles  of  his 
school  out  of  Tuscany,  but  such  was  not  the  case  with  his 
scholar  Giovanni  Balduccio,  who  long  resided  in  the  north  of 
Italy.  Born  at  Pisa  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  he  worked  at  first  in  Tuscany,  upon  a  pulpit  for  the 
Church  of  Sta.  Maria  al  Prato,  at  Casciano  near  Florence,  and 
on  the  rude  monument  of  Guarnerius,  son  of  Castruccio  Castra- 
cani  (1328),  for  the  Church  of  San  Francesco  at  Sarzana.  This 
work  gave  Castruccio  so  favourable  an  opinion  of  his  talents 
that  he  recommended  him  to  Azzo  Visconti,  Lord  of  Milan, 
who  during  two  years  spent  in  Tuscany  after  his  liberation, 
through  Castruccio's  mediation,  from  the  dungeon  at  Monza 
into  which  he  had  been  treacherously  thrown  b}"  the  Emperor 
Louis  of  Bavaria,  had  imbibed  a  love  of  Art  which  led  him, 
after  his  accession  to  power,  to  invite  eminent  foreign  artists 
to  settle  in  his  dominions.  Among  those  who  came  at  his 
bidding  was  Balduccio,  who,  according  to  some  authorities,  built 
a  palace  for  him  at  Milan  which  Giotto  afterwards  adorned 
with  frescoes,  and  executed  many  important  works  in  sculpture.! 

*  Proved  by  a  decree  of  the  Pisan  magistrates,  dated  Dec.  8th,  1368, 
to  pay  twenty  florins  to  Andrea,  son  of  the  late  sculptcj*,  Nino  di  Andrea 
(Doc.  pub.  by  Prof.  Bonaini ;  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  44,  note  1). 

^  See  Appendix,  letter  F. 


Baldiiccio  Pisano.  41 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  is  the  monument  to  Fra  Pictro 
da  Verona,  commonly  known  as  St.  Peter  Martyr,  in  the 
Church  of  San  Eustorgio.  This  elaborate  work,  which  was 
commenced  in  1336  and  terminated  in  1339,  consists  of  a 
sarcophagus  with  a  sloping  lid,  surmounted  by  a  Gothic  taber- 
nacle, and  supported  upon  eight  pilasters  faced  by  allegorical 
statues  of  the  Virtues.  The  eight  bas-reliefs  upon  the  sides  of 
the  sarcophagus,  representing  scenes  in  the  life  of  the  Saint,  are 
hardly  worthy  of  the  scholar  of  Andrea  Pisano,  but  some  of 
the  statues  are  remarkable  and  strikingly  Gioltesque  in  cha- 
racter, Giotto  himself  might  have  modelled  the  Hope,  the 
Temperance,  or  the  Prudence,  so  closely  do  they  correspond  to 
his  style  in  type  of  face,  conception,  and  mode  of  represen- 
tation. The  monument  to  which  they  belong  was  hardly  com- 
pleted when  Azzo  Visconti  died,  and  Balduccio  was  called 
upon  to  design  his  patron's  tomb  for  a  chapel  adjoining  the 
palace,  whence  it  was,  long  after,  removed  to  the  Trivuizi 
Palace,  where  it  exists  in  a  mutilated  condition.  The  recum- 
bent figure  of  the  prince,  watched  over  by  angels,  lies  upon  a 
sarcophagus,  whose  front  is  adorned  with  figures  of  knights  in 
relief  (typical  of  the  cities  subject  to  Azzo)  and  of  their  patron 
saints  kneeling  before  St.  Ambrose.  Other  fragments,  which 
we  are  unable  to  place  in  the  general  design,  are  the  figures 
of  St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon,  and  of  a  woman  holding  in 
her  arms  a  child  with  clasped  hands,  possibly  emblematic  of 
her  soul. 

Another  work  attributable  to  Balduccio,  in  the  church  of 
S.  Marco  at  Milan,  is  the  tomb  of  Lanfranco  Settala,  an 
Augustinian  monk  and  professor  of  theology,  who  is  repre- 
sented lying  on  a  mortuary  couch  behind  which  two  angels 
raise  the  folds  of  a  curtain,  and  in  a  relief  on  the  front  of  the 
sarcophagus,  in  the  act  of  giving  instruction  to  his  scholars.  • 
The  bas-reliefs  set  into  the  wall  opposite  this  tomb,  which 
belonged  to  that  of  Salvarino  de'  Aliprandis  (d.  1344), 
together  with  the  tomb  of  Stefano  Visconti,  an  Ancona,  and  a 
bas-relief  of  the  Magi  at  San  Eustorgio,  a  bas-relief  on  tlu- 
outside  of  the  Porta  Xuova,  aiul  some  rude  figures  in  tiu' 
Mediteval  Museum  at  theBrera,  are  woi'ks  rather  of  Balduccio's 
school  than  of  the  master  himself 

Many  such  outside  of  Milan,  show  how  extensive  an  iiillu- 


42      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

ence  be  exercised  upon  sculpture  in  the  north  of  Italy,  as  foT 
instance,  tlie  Area  di  Sant'  Agostino  at  Pavia,  which  was  prob- 
ably made  by  Matteo  and  Bonino  da  Campione,  the  two  most 
remarkable  artists  formed  by  Balduccio  during  his  residence  at 
Milan.*  Twelve  years  were  employed,  and  4,000  golden  scudi 
spent,  in  constructing  it  in  the  sacristy  of  San  Pietro  in  cielo 
d'  oro  (1382),  whence  it  was  removed  to  its  present  position  in 
the  Cathedral,  when  that  building  was  demolished.  Enriched 
with  bas-reliefs,  statuettes,  and  architectural  accessories  in  the 
pointed  style,  it  forms  an  ensemble  of  the  most  imposing 
character.  The  effigy  of  the  saint,  covered  with  a  winding- 
sheet  held  up  at  the  corners  and  sides  by  six  angels,  lies  upon 
a  mortuary  couch  seen  through  the  open  arches  which  support 
its  second  storey.  The  statuettes  of  the  aj)ostles,  grouped  in  pairs 
within  compartments  around  the  lower  or  basement  storey,  are 
separated  from  each  other  by  pilasters  faced  by  statuettes  of  the 
Virtues.  Above  them  are  placed  smaller  statuettes  of  saints  and 
prophets,  with  seated  figures  of  saints  and  martyrs.  A  row  of 
pointed  gables  enriched  with  crockets  and  finials  runs  round 
the  upper  storey,  which  is  decorated  with  a  series  of  bas-reliefs 
representing  incidents  in  the  life  of  St.  Augustine,  and  with 
twenty  statuettes.  All  the  figures  upon  this  monument  are 
highly  polished,  the  borders  of  their  robes  are  carefully  elabo- 
rated, and  the  pupils  of  their  eyes  are  painted  black,  according 
to  a  common  custom  of  the  time. 

After  the  death  of  Azzo  Visconti,  his  paternal  uncles,  Luchino 
and  Giovanni,  nominally  ruled  the  state  together,  though  the 
latter,  being  little  inclined  to  politics,  left  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  his  brother,  who  was  one  of  the  best 
princes  of  his  house  but  not  a  patron  of  art.  Mention  is  made 
of  many  palaces  which  he  built  and  decorated  with  frescoes, 
but  we  have  no  proof  of  his  having  given  any  commission  to 
Balduccio  or  his  scholars,  though  he  may  have  ordered  the 
former  to  make  the  already  described  monument  to  Azzo.  That 
to  Stefano  Visconti  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  at  S. 
Eustorgio,  which  has  been  attributed   to  Balduccio,   was  most 

*  According  to  Vasari  it  was  made  by  Agostino  and  Agnolo  Sanesi, 
but  this  cannot  be,  as  they  died  before  the  middle  of  the  centnry,  and  the 
Area  is  dated  a.d.  13G2.  Cicognara  ascribes  it  to  Pietro  Paolo  and 
Jucoliello  dell"  Massegne,  but  no  work  of  theirs  is  known  prior  to  1380. 


Bonino  and  Mattco  da  Canipione.  43 

probably  erected  by  order  of  Luchino's  three  sons,  Matteo  II., 
Bernabo  and  Galeazzo,  \vliom  be  bad  exiled,  and  Avbom  Gio- 
vanni recalled  to  share  the  territory  of  Milan  with  him.  This 
division  was  soon  simplified  by  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo  -who 
poisoned  Matteo,  to  save  themselves  from  a  like  fate.  Of  the 
two,  Galeazzo  was  perhaps  the  worst,  for  he  w^as  persistently 
cruel  and  unjust,  while  his  brother  sometimes  varied  his  course 
of  crime  by  acts  of  justice  and  even  of  kindness.  Galeazzo  dis- 
regarded the  claims  of  art  and  wantonly  destroyed  the  frescoes  of 
Giotto  in  Azzo's  palace,  while  Bernabo  patronized  it  as  a  means 
of  self-glorification. 

His  equestrian  statue  in  the  Mediaeval  museum  at  the  Brera 
which  was  probably  sculptured  by  Balduccio's  scholar  Bonino 
da  Campione,  represents  him  clad  in  armour,  and  holding  the 
baton  of  command  in  his  left  hand.  The  rider  sits  stifily  on 
his  horse  whose  trappings,  enriched  with  his  cypher  and  the 
emblems  of  his  house,  were  once  gay  with  gilding  and  colour, 
while  two  diminutive  figures  of  Fortitude  and  Justice  stand 
like  pages  at  his  stirrups.  The  sarcophagus,  upon  which 
the  group  is  raised,  is  supported  by  nine  short  columns,  and 
adorned  with  coarsely-modelled  bas-reliefs  of  the  Crucifixion, 
the  dead  Christ  and  angels,  the  Evangelists,  and  single  figures 
of  saints.  Bernabo  erected  this  monument  to  the  memory 
of  his  wife  Regina  della  Scala,  behind  the  high  altar  of  San 
Giovanni  a  Conca,  in  such  a  position  that  the  worshippers  ap- 
peared to  be  praying  to  him,  and  this  was  considered  so  scanda- 
lous that  soon  after  his  death  it  was  removed  to  a  more  fitting 
place  near  the  door.  We  are  rather  inclined  to  ascribe  it  to 
Bonino  than  to  Matteo  da  Campione,  because  the  equestrian 
group  resembles  that  upon  the  Gothic  tomb  of  Can  Signorio 
at  Verona,  which  is  certainly  by  Bonino,  and  because  its  style 
is  less  simple  than  that  of  the  pulpit  by  Matteo  at  Monza.* 
Matteo,  the  elder  of  the  two,  who  succeeded  the  unknown  archi- 
tect of  the  Cathedral  at  Monza  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  designed  its    facade   in  a  mixed    Gothic   stjde,   and 

*  Torre,  o-p.  cit.  p.  50,  does  not  give  the  sculptor's  name.  Rossi  and 
Cataneo,  MS.  Hist,  of  Lombard  Artists,  in  the  Biblioteca  Melzi,  suggest 
Bonino.  Calvi,  op.  cit.  p.  45,  says  Matteo,  the  inferiority  of  whoso  work 
in  it  as  compared  with  that  at  Monza  he  ascribes  to  his  having  so  bad  a 
Bubject  as  Bernabo  to  treat. 


* 


44      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptiire, 

decorated  it  with  slabs  of  coloured  marble,  in  the  manner 
originally  introduced  by  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  at  Florence.  He 
also  sculptured  a  now  destroyed  font  for  the  baptistry,  and  the 
pulpit,  which  is  adorned  with  statuettes  of  the  Apostles  in 
niches  separated  by  panelled  pilasters,  upon  which  are  small 
and  remarkably  well-designed  figures  in  very  low  relief.*  The 
compartments  which  divide  the  surface  of  the  projecting  read- 
ing dosk  contain  small  statuettes  of  the  four  Evangelists,  and 
one  of  our  Lord  holding  a  book  and  a  thunderbolt,  a  piece  of 
paganism  which  would  have  been  less  surprising  a  century  later^ 
The  accessories  are  executed  in  a  simple  unpretending  style, 
which  leaves  little  room  for  criticism.  The  works  of  Matteo  at 
Monza  are  thus  enumerated  in  the  mortuary  tablet  set  into  the 
outer  wall  of  the  duomo :  "  Here  lies  the  great  architect,  the 
devout  master  Mattheus  da  Campilione,  who  built  the  fa9ade  of 
this  holy  church  as  well  as  its  pulpit  and  baptistry,  and  who 
died  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1396." 

Balduccio's  best  scholar,  Bonino,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
belonged  to  that  family  of  Fusina  which  gave  several  artists 
to  Milan,  is  mentioned  by  Giulini  and  Mazuchelli  as  a  simple 
^'  scarpellino,"  but  the  tomb  of  Can  Signorio  della  Scala  at 
Yerona,  of  whose  equestrian  group  we  have  spoken  as  like  that 
cf  Bernabo  Visconti  at  the  Brera,  proves  that  he  deserved  a 
higher  title. f 

At  the  time  when  he  was  called  upon  to  design  it,  othei 
tombs  to  princes  of  the  same  distinguished  family,  which  did 
so  much  to  promote  arts  and  letters  in  the  north  of  Italy, 
existed  in  and  about  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  Antica  where  it 
was  to  be  placed.  One  of  these,  that  of  Cane  della  Scala  (1329) 
over  the  portal,  is  a  sarcophagus  with  reliefs,  under  an  arched 
canopy  surmounted  by  a  spirited  equestrian  group ;  another, 
that  of  Mastino  II.  (1351),  by  Perino  of  Milan,  in  the 
graveyard  adjoining  the  church,  corresponds  to  it  in  general 
design. 

To  both  these  tombs,  Bonino  may  have  recurred  for  hints  as 
to  the  leading  features  of  his  monument  to  Can  Signorio,  such 

*  Their  close  resemblance  to  those  upon  the  Area  di  S.  Agostino  at 
Pavia,  confirms  the  belief  in  Matteo's  co-operation  in  that  work. 

t  "  Hoc  opus  sculpsit  et  fecit  Boninus  de  Campiglione  Mediolanensia 
{vide,  MafFei,  Verona  Illustrata,  ed.  in  8vo.  vol.  iv.  p.  128). 


Andrea  Orgagna.  45 

as  the  equestrian  statue,  the  canopy  and  the  placing  of  the 
sarcophagus,  but  he  designed  it  on  a  far  more  sumptuous 
scale,  in  accordance  with  the  ^\■ishes  of  the  prince,  who,  while 
dying  of  an  incurable  malady,  had  set  aside  10,000  golden 
florins  for  the  purpose,  and  had  summoned  Bonino  to 
Verona  to  sculpture  it.  The  edifice,  for  so  it  may  well  be 
called  on  account  of  its  imposing  size  and  intricate  struc- 
ture, consists  of  three  parts,  the  base,  the  sepulchral  effigy 
under  a  canopy,  and  the  pyramidal  roof  crowned  by  an  eques- 
trian statue.  The  eight  columns  with  Corinthian  capitals, 
upon  which  the  canopy  rests,  serve  as  supports  for  Gothic 
niches  containing  statuettes  of  military  saints,  the  sides  of 
its  pyramidal  roof  are  enriched  with  other  niches  in  the  same 
style  filled  with  statuettes  of  the  Virtues,  and  the  spaces 
between  the  columns  are  spanned  by  Gothic  arches  of  rich 
design,  through  which  the  sepulchral  efiigy  of  the  deceased, 
lying  upon  a  sarcophagus,  is  watched  over  by  an  angel  with 
half-spread  wings.  Can  Siguorio  is  himself  represented  in  a 
bas-relief  upon  it,  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  the  Madonna  to 
receive  the  benediction  of  the  Infant  Saviour. 

After  completing  this  magnificent  work  (1375  ?)  Bonino 
returned  to  Milan  and  aided  in  the  building  of  the  Cathedral, 
whose  registers  show  that  he  took  part  in  a  discussion  concern- 
ing alleged  errors  in  its  construction,  and  refer  to  him  as  dead 
in  an  order  of  the  year  1397  for  the  removal  of  a  marble  figure 
to  Milan  from  the  quarries  at  Gandolia,  where  he  had  sculp- 
tured it. 

From  the  pupils  of  Balduccio,  let  us  now  return  to  his  fellow 
scholar  under  Andrea  Pisano — Andrea  Arcaguuolo  di  Clone, 
commonly  called  Andrea  Orgagna,*  who  was  born  at  Florence 
about  1308.  As  his  father  Maestro  Clone  was  a  celebrated 
goldsmitht  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  he  received  his  first 
lessons  in  the   paternal  workshop,  though  Vasari  tells  us  that 

*  Orgagna,  or  Orcagna,  is  a  corrupt  abbreviation  of  Arcagnuolo.  See 
E'jmohr's,  It.  Forsch.  vol.  ii.,  and  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  i.  p.  603,  note  1, 

t  jMilanesi  (ed.  Vasari),  p.  593,  note  2,  suggests  a  doubt  as  to  whether 
Cioni  was  a  professional  goldsmith ;  but  this  is  hardly  compatible  with 
the  fact  that  he  made  a  silver  altar  for  the  baptistry.  It  was  wantonly 
destroyed  in  1336,  and  a  few  reliefs  belonging  to  it  were  set  in  a  new  altar 
with  others  by  J\Iichelozzo,  Pollajuolo,  Ghiberti,  and  other  eminent 
artists.     This  altar  is  kept  in  the  Opera  del  Duomo. 


46      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

he  -was  apprenticed  to  Andrea  Pisano  at  a  very  early  age.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  he  studied  painting  under 
his  hrother  Nardo,  and  that  the  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent 
in  the  practice  of  that  art.  In  1343  he  was  admitted  to  the 
painters'  guild,  and  to  that  of  the  sculptors  nine  years  later 
(1352),  hut  long  hefore  that  time  he  must  have  studied  archi- 
tecture and  sculpture  very  thoroughly',  as  he  soon  after  showed 
his  complete  knowledge  of  hoth  arts  in  the  famous  Tabernacle 
at  Or  San  Michele,  which  he  completed  in  1359. 

The  church  in  which  it  stands  was  originally  a  covered 
hall  or  Loggia,  built  for  a  grain  market  by  Arnolfo  di  Cambio 
(128-1),  on  one  of  whose  brick  piers  a  Sienese  artist  named 
Ugolino  painted  a  Madonna,  which  began  to  manifest  miracu- 
lous powers  in  1292.  In  1304,  when  the  Loggia  was  much 
injured  by  fire,  the  city  guilds  determined  to  rebuild  it  on  a 
much  larger  scale,  and  two  years  later,  when  the  corner-stone 
was  laid  with  immense  pomp  and  ceremony,  the  magistrates 
granted  the  petition  of  the  silk  Merchants'  Guild,  that  its 
members  should  be  allowed  to  place  the  statue  of  their  patron 
saint  in  one  of  the  niches  upon  the  outside  of  the  building. 
This  example  was  followed  by  other  guilds,  until  the  remaining 
riches  were  gradually  filled  with  statues  made  by  the  greatest 
sculptors  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

As  time  went  on  the  brotherhood  of  Or  San  Michele  became 
enormously  wealthy  through  the  gifts  of  devotees  to  the  mira- 
culous picture,  and  the  many  donations  made  by  citizens,* 
who  offered  their  treasures  still  more  freely  at  the  shrine  when, 
after  a  long  period  of  prosperity,  a  terrible  pestilence  desolated 
the  city  (1348)  .f  Thus  enriched,  the  confraternity  commissioned 
Andrea  Orgagna  to  finish  the  granary  as  a  church,  and  to  erect 
a  Tabernacle  within  its  walls,  in  which  the  famous  picture  of 
the  Virgin,  which  had  been  the  cause  of  their  association, 
should  be  enshrined. t     Summoned  for  this   purpose  from  Or- 

*  In  tlie  course  of  half  a  century  the  offerings  to  the  chapel  amounted 
to  350,000  florins. 

t  Boccaccio  says  that  more  than  100,000  persons  perished  at  Florence, 
between  JMarch  and  July.  Villani  says,  Florence  lost  three-fifths,  and 
Pisa  four-fifths  of  their  inhabitants,  and  Siena  80,000  citizens. 

X  Ugolino's  iDictnre,  ■which,  like  all  his  works,  was  painted  "alia 
Greca,"  and  on  the  "  intonaco,"  or  plaster  surface  of  one  of  the 
pilasters  of  the  Loggia,  undoubtedly  perished  in  the  fire  of  1304.     The 


Andrea  Orgagna.  47 

Tieto,  whither  he  had  gone  to  superintend  the  mosaics  of 
the  Cathedral,  Orgagna  returned  to  Florence  to  design  and 
construct  a  work  which  pre-eminently  emhodies  the  spirit  of 
medingval  Christian  art.  Built  of  white  marble  in  the  Gothic 
style — enriched  with  every  kind  of  ornament,  and  storied  with 
bas-reliefs  illustrative  of  the  Madonna's  history  from  her  birth 
to  her  death — it  rises  in  stately  beaut}',  and  whether  considered 
from  an  architectural,  sculptural  or  symbolic  point  of  view, 
excites  the  warm  admiration  of  all  who  can  appreciate  the 
skill  with  which  its  bas-reliefs,  statuettes,  busts,  intaglios, 
mosaics  and  incrustations  of  "  pietre  dure,"  gilded  glass  and 
enamels,  are  welded  together  into  a  perfect  unit, 

Che  passa  di  bellezza,  s'  io  ben  recolo, 
Tntti  gli  altri  die  son  dentro  del  secolo.* 

The  altar  occupies  the  front  of  the  Tabernacle  under  the 
miraculous  picture  of  the  Madonna,  over  which  rises  the  open- 
work roof,  decorated  with  statuettes  of  the  Archangel  Michael, 
and  an  attendant  angel.  The  base  is  adorned  with  bas-reliefs 
in  octangular  recesses,  representing  the  Birth  of  the  Madonna 
and  her  Presentation  at  the  temple,  separated  by  a  small  figure 
of  Faith  on  the  right  side ;  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin  and  • 
the  Annunciation,  by  one  of  Hope  in  front ;  the  Birth  of  our 
Lord  and  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  by  one  of  Charity  on  the 
left  side ;  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  and  the  Angel  who 
comes  to  inform  the  Madonna  of  her  approaching  death,  at  the 
back.  Above  this  relief  is  another  of  large  size  in  which  the 
Madonna  lies  on  her  death-bed  surrounded  by  apostles  and 
disciples  (one  of  whom  is  a  portrait  of  Orgagna,  see  tail- 
piece), and  ascends  to  heaven  in  a  mystic  mandola  or  aureole, 
from  which  she  drops  her  girdle  to  the  incredulous  St.  Thomas. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  reliefs,  if  only  for  its  novelty  as 
a  subject,  is  that  of  the  warning  visit  of  the  angel  to  the  aged 
Madonna,  who  sits  tranquilly  gazing  at  the  celestial  messenger 
as  he  brings  her  a  palm  branch  endowed  with  miraculous 
power  to  conceal  her  dead  body  from  the  eyes  of  the  Jews, 

present  picture,  which  is  upon  canvas,  and  in  a  Giottesque  style,  was 
probably  painted  by  some  artist  of  the  fourteenth  century.     Vide  Yasari, 
Comm.  alia  Vita  di  Ugolino,  vol.  ii.  pp.  23,  25. 
*  Poem  upon  the  Tabernacle,  by  SacchettL 


48      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sndpttire, 

^vben  it  shall  be  borne  to  the  tomb.  In  this,  as  in  the  other 
compositions,  Orgagna  treats  his  subject  as  a  painter  would. 
The  flying  angel,  the  little  window  of  coloured  glass,  and  the 
attempt  to  put  the  chamber  and  the  objects  within  it  into  per- 
spective, are  all  pictorial  devices  which  Andrea  Pisano,  with 
his  just  sense  of  plastic  requirements,  would  never  have  resorted 
to.     It  reminds  us  that  Orgagna  was  wont  to  write  "  sculptor" 


after  his  name  upon  his  pictures,  and  to  inscribe  himself  as 
"pictor"  upon  his  sculptures.  The  last  designation  seems 
true  in  another  sense  than  that  which  it  was  inteii  led  to 
convey,  for  the  bas-reliefs  of  which  we  have  been  speaking 
are  treated  pictorially,  and  as  they  are  Orgagna's  only  works 
in  sculpture,  we  may  look  upon  him  as  a  precursor  of  Ghiberti. 
In  multiplicity  of  intellectual  gifts  (we  are  far  from  saying 
in  quality)  he  even  surpassed  Michael  Angelo,  whom  Pindemonte 
calls  the  man  of  four  souls — Orgagna  had  %e,  for  he  was  archi- 


Andrea  Orgagna.  49 

tect,  sculptor,  painter  and  poet,  and  goldsmith  besides.  Only 
one  side  of  Ins  complex  personality  comes  properly  under  con- 
sideration here,  yet  we  cannot  take  leave  of  him  without  at  least 
referring  to  his  reputed  great  work  as  an  architect,  the  Loggia 
de'  Lauzi,  that  world-renowned  portico  which  foreshadowed  a 
turning-point  in  the  architectural  history  of  the  nation,  the 
approacing  transition  from  mixed  Gothic  to  pure  Roman  forms. 
It  announced  the  end  of  the  Mediaeval  and  the  be^inninff  of 
the  Renaissance  period,  and  is  in  architecture  what  the  con- 
temporary writings  of  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  are  in  literature, 
evidences  of  the  coming  classical  revival  which  in  the  first 
half  cf  the  fifteenth  century  embraced  all  forms  of  thought. 
But  did  Orgagna  build  it  ?  that  is  a  question,  raised  in  our 
day,  which  turns  upon  the  date  of  his  death.  The  order 
for  the  construction  of  this  sumptuous  place  of  assembly  for 
the  discussion  of  political  and  commercial  matters  at  times 
when  heat  or  rain  made  the  uncovered  platform  (ringhiera) 
before  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  untenable,  was  passed  by  the  general 
council  in  13G8,  but  the  foundations  of  the  Loggia,  called  de' 
Lanzi,  from  its  location  near  the  guard-house  of  the  German 
Lands  Knechtsor  hired  soldiers,  were  not  laid  until  1376,  eight 
years  after  the  death  of  Orgagna  as  fixed  by  modern  authorities. 
Vasari,  who  first  ascribed  the  building  to  Orgagna,  says  that  he 
died  in  1389,  but  this  must  be  an  error,  as  the  last  certain  in- 
formation about  him  is  a  record  of  the  year  13G8,  in  Avhich  he 
is  spoken  of  as  dangerously  ill.  In  another,  often  years  later, 
he  is  mentioned  as  a  deceased  person.  His  death,  in  13G8,  is 
perfectly  compatible  with  the  supposition  that  he  left  designs 
for  the  Loggia,  which  were  carried  out  by  the  eminent  architects 
Benci  di  Clone  and  Simone  di  Francesco  Taleuti,  when  they 
were  appointed  head  masters  of  the  building.'"'  Its  great  round 
arches,  of  which  there  are  three  in  front,  and  one  at  the  end, 
are  supported  upon  piers  with  Corinthian  capitals,  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  broad  entablature  adorned  with  six  half-figures 
of  the  Virtues  in  relief,  and  a  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child 
under  a  canopy.  The  Virtues  were  sculptured  by  Jacopo  di 
Piero,  one  of  Orgagna' s  scholars,  perhaps  after  the  designs  of 
Angelo  Gaddi,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Fortitude  and 

*  /See  Appendix,  letter  G. 


50      Histo7'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadpttire. 

Temperance.  These  are  attributed  to  Giovanni  Seti,  an  other- 
wise unknown  sculptor. 

The  subterranean  church  of  the  Certosa  convent,  near  Flor- 
ence, which  if  not  built  by  Orgagna  is  of  his  time,  contains 
some  interesting  monuments  of  its  founder  Niccolo  Acciajuoli, 
Grand  Seneschal  of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  under  Queen 
Joanna,  and  of  his  family.  These  are  in  all  probability  works 
of  OrfraOTa's  scholars.  The  recumbent  statue  of  Niccolo,  clad 
in  armour,  is  placed  under  a  rich  Gothic  canopy,  set  high  up 
against  the  wall  above  the  tombs  of  his  father,  daughter  and 
son  Lorenzo,  whose  funeral  obsequies  were  celebrated  at  the 
enormous  cost  of  50,000  gold  florins  by  his  afflicted  parents. 

With  Orgagna,  the  Pisan  school,  whose  rise  and  progress  we 
have  now  traced  through  the  better  part  of  two  centuries,  may 
be  said  to  close.  The  Florentine  school  properly  dates  from 
Donatello  andGhiberti,  and  may  be  considered  as  the  successor 
of  the  Pisan  and  Sienese  schools,  "which  died  out  respectively 
the  one  in  the  fourteenth,  and  the  other  in  the  fifteenth  century. 


Siena. 


51 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SIENA. 


»r» 


The  reader's  attention  has  been  already  called  to  the  impulse 
given  by  Niccola  and  Giovanni  Pisano  to  architecture  and 
sculpture  at  Siena  in  the  latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. The  presence  and  example  of  father  and  son  did  much 
to  raise  the  standard  of  excellence  in  both  arts,  whose 
improved  condition  found  ample  opportunity  for  its  display 
through  the  enlargement  and  embellishment  of  the  Cathedral, 
the  construction  of  the  Abbey  Church  and  Monastery  of  S. 
Galgano,  and  the  building  of  walls,  bridges,  gates  and  fountains 
in  and  about  the  city.  Many  artists  who  as  rectors  represented 
the  greater  and  lesser  art  guilds  in  the  city  government,  were 
involved  in  the  struggles  which  constantly  arose  between  the 
nobles  and  the  people,  but  despite  these  disturbing  influences, 
and  those  arising  from  the  open  state  of  war  between  the 
Ghibellines  and  the  Guelphs,  they  made  notable  progress. 

Few  of  them  are  known  to  us  even  by  name,  and  still  fewer 
by  their  works,  which  were  doubtless  for  the  most  part  of  a 
decorative  character.  Nothing  is  known  about  the  personal 
history  of  Ramo  or  Romano  di  Paganello,  son  of  Paganello  di 
Giovanni,*  one  of  the  first  whose  name  is  something  more 
than  a  name  to  us,  save  that  he  was  banished  for  having  killed 
or  maltreated  his  wife ;  that  in  1281  he  was  recalled  by  a 
decree  of  the  general  council ;  f  and  that  he  subsequently 
worked  at  the  Cathedral  under  Giovanni  Pisano.  It  was  pro- 
bably at  this  period  (1288)  that  he  sculptured  a  statue  of  St. 

*  Kumohr  {It.  Forsch.  vol.  ii.  p.  143)  says  that  Kamo's  fatlier  was  per- 
haps Roclolpho,  called  "  II  Tedesco,"  one  of  the  German  artists  who 
introduced  the  Gothic  style  into  Italy  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

t  The  decree  mentions  Ramo  as  "  Intalliatorlbus  de  bonis  "  (mean- 
ing those  who  worked  upon  ornaments  and  leaves) ;  "  et  sculptor- 
ibus  et  subtilioribus "  (as  expressing  those  excessively  minute  works  in 
the  "  semi-tedesco  "  style,  then  in  fashion)  "  in  mundo  qui  inveniri  possit." 

£    2 


5-'?      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadpture. 

Francis,  which  formerly  stood  over  the  door  of  the  Church  af 
San  Francesco.  In  1296  he  went  to  Orvieto  with  Lorenzo 
Maitani,  and  there  presided  over  the  sculptors  working  ahout 
the  Cathedral  as  "  capo  loggia,  "  an  office  to  which  none  but  a 
man  of  remarkable  capacity  would  have  been  elected.  Though 
we  cannot  suppose  him  to  have  worked  upon  the  bas-reliefs  of  the 
facade,  as  they  were  begun  somewhat  after  his  time,  he  doubt- 
less aided  in  carving  some  of  the  capitals  of  its  pilasters. 

One  cf  his  contemporaries,  Goro  di  Gregorio,*  military  architect 
nnd  sculptor,  made  the  sarcophagus  under  the  high  altar  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Massa  Maritima,  which  contains  the  body  of  St. 
Cerbone,  Bishop  of  Massa.  Its  five  bas-reliefs  represent  the 
bishop  summoned  to  Eome  by  the  messengers  of  Pope 
Virgilius,  drinking  the  milk  of  a  hind  while  on  his  journey 
thither,  restoring  the  sick  whom  he  met  on  his  way,  presented 
to  the  pope  at  Rome,  and  celebrating  mass  before  the  pope, 
who  by  placing  his  foot  upon  that  of  the  saint,  hears  angelic 
melodies  inaudible  to  other  ears.  Although  technically  rude, 
these  reliefs  are  not  devoid  of  expression.  The  statuettes  above 
the  sarcophagus  are  carefully  draped,  and  the  ornaments  about 
the  cornices  are  delicately  carved.  Goro  sculptured  a  bas- 
relief  of  the  Baptism  of  our  Lord  for  the  Baptistry  of  Eosia, 
a  castle  near  Siena,  some  statues  for  the  facade  of  the 
Cathedral  (1332),  and  the  monument  of  the  Petronio  family 
in  the  subterranean  chambers  of  the  first  cloister  of  the  church 
of  San  Francesco  (1332). 

Piamo  and  Goro  were  artists  of  purely  local  celebrity,  but 
such  was  not  the  case  with  Lorenzo  di  Lorenzo  Maitani,  who 
built  the  beautiful  Gothic  cathedral  at  Orvieto.  Gifted  with 
rare  genius,  and  thoroughly  versed  in  architecture,  sculpture, 
bronze- casting  and  mosaic,  he  was  eminently  fitted  for  his 
work,  and,  thanks  to  the  singular  fortune  which  permitted  him 
to  watch  over  the  building  from  the  day  when  its  corner-stone 
was  laid  to  that  which  saw  its  last  pinnacle  pointed  towards 
heaven,  he  carried  it  out  with  a  unity  of  design  unattainable 
by  an  artist  less  versatile  than  himself.f  At  the  time  of  its 
foundation  no  fewer  than  forty  Florentine,   Pisan,  and    Sienese 

*  Not  to  be  confounded  with  Niccola's  pupil,  Goro  di  Ciuccio  Ciuti,  a 
Florentine,     fiee  ch.  ii.  pp.  23,  24. 
f  See  Appendix,  letter  G. 


Lorenzo  Maitani.  53 

architects,  sculptors  and  painters  came  to  reside  at  Orvieto, 
and  were  formed  into  a  corporate  body  subject  to  Lorenzo 
Maitani,  the  master  of  masters,  who  with  his  council  pro- 
nounced judgment  upon  the  models  and  drawings  presented  to 
them  in  the  "  Loggia,  "  a  building  set  apart  for  their  use 
near  the  Cathedral.  Many  of  these  artists  were  employed  in 
procuring  and  working  upon  marbles  at  Rome,  Siena,  and 
Corneto,  as  also  at  Albano  and  Castel  Gandolfo,  whence  the 
prepared  material  was  dragged  by  buffaloes,  or  sent  up  the 
Tiber  in  boats,  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Orvieto.'^'"  Aided  by 
the  Orvietans  and  the  country  people,  who  on  fete  days  assisted 
in  transporting  building  materials  to  the  Piazza  di  Sta.  Maria, 
the  work  was  advanced  so  rapidly,  that  eight  years  after  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  (1298)  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  celebrated 
mass  within  the  walls,  which  had  already  risen  to  a  considerable 
height. 

The  beautiful  facade,  rich  in  sculpture  and  mosaic  work,  was 
begun  in  1321,  and  carried  on  under  Maitani's  direction  until  his 
death  nine  years  later.  "  Artist  Philosopher,"  says  Piomagnuoli, 
"  he  adorned  its  base  with  scenes  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  the  foundations  of  our  faith  ;  decorated  the  upper 
space  about  the  round  window  Avith  the  symbols  of  the 
Evangelists,  together  with  statues  of  the  Apostles  and  Popes  ; 
and  crowned  the  whole  with  angels  placed  at  a  dangerous  and 
almost  aerial  altitude."  The  bas-reliefs  of  the  base  spoken  of 
by  the  Sienese  writer  in  this  passage,  are  sculptured  upon  four 
piers  placed  on  either  side  of  the  great  portal.  On  the  first,  called 
the  Pier  of  Creation,  because  its  subjects  are  taken  from  the  book 
of  Genesis,  we  see  the  calling  into  being  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  of  birds  and  beasts,  and  of  man  and  woman,  by 
Christ,  who  "  in  all  religious  art  as  in  all  sound  theology  is 
the  Creator  in  the  active  and  visible  sense."  t  In  each  act  be 
is  attended  by  angels,  who  follow  him  with  bowed  heads  and 
folded  arms,  or,  as  in  the  scene  where  the  Lord  walking  in  the 
garden  calls  to  Adam,  float  in  the  air  above  his  head.  What 
we  find  to  praise  in  these  works,  is  their  unaffected  simplicity 
of  expression,  their  clearness  of  narration,   their  freshness  of 

*  Lettere  Sanesi,  p.  103. 

t  History  of  Our  Lord,  by  Mrs.  Jameson  and  Lady  Eastlake,  vol.  L 
p.  66. 


54      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlpture. 

feeling,  and  the  careful  and  loving  treatment  of  rocks,  plants, 
leaves,  and  other  accessories.  These  qualities  give  them  a  charm 
which  takes  fast  hold  upon  us.  The  reliefs  of  the  Temptation, 
the  Expulsion,  and  the  Murder  of  Abel,  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
first  pier,  and  those  relating  to  the  Mosaic  dispensation  on  the 
second,  called  the  Pier  of  Prophecy,  are  inferior  to  the  Creation 
series  in  conception  and  execution.     Those  on  the  third  pier,  of 


Fulfilment,  r.ve  remarkably  excellent  in  composition  and  treat- 
ment of  drapery.  In  these  respects  the  Annunciation  and 
the  Visitation  especially,  stand  in  the  first  rank,  but  they  want 
that  peculiar  charm  which  in  art  as  in  life,  belongs  only 
to  youth,  the  charm  of  childhood  as  compared  with  man- 
hood, of  spring  with  summer,  of  the  bud  with  the  full  grown 
ilower. 

In    the   reliefs   upon    the   fourth   pier,    of   Judgment,    the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  is  treated  with  -'igorous  realism  and 


Orvieto.  55 

great  power.  Skeleton  forms  lift  the  heavy  lids  of  the  sar- 
cophagi -which  they  have  long  tenanted,  to  join  the  elect  who, 
led  by  their  guardian  angels,  mount  to  never-ending  joy,  or 
to  be  added  to  the  troop  of  the  condemned  who,  driven  in  a 
leash  by  an  archangel,  are  seized  by  demons  with  serpents'  tails 
and  bats'  wings.  A  vine  springing  from  the  base  of  each 
pier  encircles  every  relief  with  its  branches,  leaves  and  tendrils. 
If  it  be  typical  of  Christ — the  true  .Vine — as  w^e  may  suppose, 
and  not  simply  decorative,  it  is  notable  as  the  only  piece  of 
symbolism,  excepting  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  used  in 
these  sculptures,  and  this  is  no  little  remarkable  at  a  time  when 
sculptors  and  painters  still  spoke  in  that  mediaeval  languaofe. 
The  works  of  Giotto  and  the  Giotteschi,  of  Giovanni  and 
Andrea  Pisano,  abound  in  representations  of  the  Virtues  and 
Vices,  the  Liberal  Arts,  the  Seasons,  &c. 

In  inquiring  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  sculptuies  which  wo 
have  under  consideration,  it  might  be  hazardous  to  take  their 
paucity  of  symbolism  as  an  indication  of  a  preponderating 
Sienese  influence,  although  the  school  of  Siena  was  less 
addicted  to  its  use  than  that  of  Florence  or  Pisa,  but  it 
hardly  seems  so  when  we  couple  it  with  the  certainty  that  a 
Sienese  architect  directed,  when  he  did  not  personally  design, 
every  part  of  the  edifice.  To  attribute  them  to  Maitani  as  a 
whole  is  impossible,  for  not  only  do  they  vary  greatly  in  technic, 
but  also  in  style,  and  as  the  bronze  symbols  of  the  Evangelists, 
Avhich  he  cast  in  the  last  year  of  his  life  (1330),  are  the  only 
works  about  the  facade  known  to  be  his,  we  can  form  from  them 
no  idea  of  his  capacity  as  a  sculptor.  As  it  is  equally  impos- 
sible to  identify  the  bas-reliefs  with  any  one  or  more  artists 
of  the  period,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  showing  who 
among  them  can  or  cannot  have  worked  at  Orvieto.  Niccola 
Pisano,  despite  Vasari's  assertion,  cannot  have  done  so,  as  he 
died  twelve  years  before  the  corner-stone  of  the  edifice  was 
laid.  Giovanni,  his  son,  is  said  to  have  died  in  the  very  year 
(1320)  which  saw  the  reliefs  of  its  facade  commenced,  and  as 
his  name  is  not  mentioned  in  the  carefully  kept  registers  of  the 
Cathedral,  we  may  dismiss  all  idea  of  his  co-operation.  Era 
Guglielmo  Agnelli,  to  whom  Padre  Marchesi  attributes  the 
greater  part  of  the  reliefs,  came  to  Orvieto  in  1290  and  re- 
mained there  until  1301,  but  as  they  were  not  begun  until  long 


56      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptitre. 

after,  and  as  the  well-known  works  of  this  sculptor  at  Bologna 
and  Pisa  are  very  inferior  to  them,  we  are  disinclined  to  believe 
that  he  took  part  in  them.  Arnolfo  di  Cambio,  who  came  to 
Orvieto  about  the  same  time  as  Agnelli,  went  to  Florence  in 
1290,  and  remained  there  overwhelmed  with  work  until  his 
death,  so  that  he  also  must  be  dropped  from  the  list  of  possible 
sculptors.  Among  the  Sienese  artists  who  certainly  did  take 
part  in  decorating  the  facade  were  Vitale  Maitani,  the  son 
of  Lorenzo,  and  his  successor  in  the  office  of  head-master  of 
the  works  ;  Buzio  di  Biaggio,  who  made  the  bronze  group 
of  the  Madonna  and  Child  over  the  great  portal  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  Niccola  Nuti  or  Nuzii.  The  co-operation  of  other 
sculptors  of  the  time,  such  as  Agostino  di  Giovanni  and  Angelo 
di  Ventura,  Tino  di  Camaino,  Antonio  Brunaccio,  Cellino 
di  Nese,  and  Gauo,  is  possible  but  in  nowise  certain.  The 
two  first,  of  whom  Yasari's  account  is  full  of  errors,  were 
not  brothers,  as  he  states,  or  scholars  of  Giovanni  Pisano, 
neither  did  they  sculpture  those  statues  of  the  Prophets  upon 
the  fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral  at  Orvieto,  which  he  attributes  to 
them.*  We  know  them  by  one  work  only — the  monument  to 
Bishop  Guido  Tarlati  in  the  Cathedral  at  Arezzo,  for  which 
they  received  the  commission  (1330)  from  that  prelate's  brother, 
Pietro  Saccone  di  Pietramala,  through  the  good  offices  of 
Giotto  who,  as  Vasari  declares,  kindly  supplied  them  with  the 
design. f  Without  accepting  this  as  a  fact,  it  is  impossible  for 
any  one  who  examines  the  sixteen  bas-reliefs  upon  the  monu- 
ment, of  the  sieges  and  battles  in  which  this  warlike  prelate 
took  part,  to  doubt  that  they  were  sculptured  under  the  great 
painter's  influence.  Kudely  executed,  pictorial  in  style,  and 
dramatic  in  spirit,  they  form  the  one  novel  feature  of  a  menu 
ment  which  otherwise  differs  in  no  respect  from  tombs  of  the 
Pisan  school  already  described.  Agostino  and  Angelo,  who 
were  much  employed  at  Siena  as  architects,  died  there  about 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century-  Agostino  had  two  rons, 
one  of  whom,  Domenico,  was  a  goldsmith,  and  the  other,  Gio- 
vanni, a  sculptor.  His  Giottesque-looking  bas-relief  of  the 
Madonna  and   Child  with  angels  in  the  Oratory  of  San  Ber- 

*  Agostino  and   his  son  Giovanni   are   mentioned  in  the  Cathedral 
registers  of  the  year  1339.     Angelo's  name  is  nowhere  recorded. 
f  Bee  Appendix,  letter  H, 


Tino  da  Camaino.  57 

nardino  at  Siena,  shows  that   the  painter's   influence  was  not 
limited  to  one  generation. 

We  now  come  to  a  Sienese  sculptor  who  deserves  a  more  ex- 
tended notice,  if  only  on  account  of  the  wider  field  in  which  he 
worked,  Lino  or  Tino  di  Camaino,  the  son  of  Camaius  di  Cres- 
centius  or  Crescentius  di  Diotisalvi,  who  was  in  all  probability 
the  scholar  of  Giovanni  Pisano.  One  of  his  more  important  works 
(1315),  the  tomb  of  Henry  VII.,  which  was  removed  from  the  Ca- 
thedral at  Pisa  to  the  Campo  Santo  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  consists  of  the  imperial  effigy,  clad  in  a  mantle  decorated 
with  the  lions  and  eagles  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  lying 
upon  a  sarcophagus  with  mourning  genii  sculptured  at  either 
end,  and  several  heavy  but  not  ill-draped  figures  of  saints  disposed 
along  the  front. ^  A  long  inscription  upon  the  base  records  the 
translation  of  the  body  to  Pisa,  from  the  Castle  of  Suvareto  in  the 
Maremma,  in  which  it  had  been  temporarily  deposited  on  its  way 
from  Buonconvento,  where  the  ill-starred  Henry  of  Luxemburg 
died  of  fever  or  poison  (1313),  after  the  two  years'  struggle 
which  followed  upon  his  descent  into  Italy  to  reassert  the  long 
dormant  rights  of  the  German  Emperors.  Hailed  by  Dante  as 
the  saviour  of  his  distracted  countrv,  and  crowned  at  Milan 
with  the  iron  crown,  he  had  vainly  besieged  Kome  and  Florence, 
before  death  put  an  end  to  the  hopes  and  fears  which  his  pre- 
sence had  'ixcited.  There  is  little  doubt  that  he  would  have 
captured  Florence  had  it  not  been  for  the  brave  Bishop  Antonio 
d'Orso,  who  directed  its  defence,  and  it  is  not  a  little  singular 
that  Tino  should  have  been  selected  to  sculpture  the  monuments 
of  the  Emperor  who  attacked,  and  of  the  Bishop  who  defended, 
the  fair  city.  The  latter  stands  in  the  left  aisle  of  the  Cathedral, 
and  consists  of  a  statue  of  the  Prelate  sitting  in  his  robes  of 
office,  wdth  his  hands  crossed  upon  his  breast,  on  the  top  of  a 
sarcophagus,  which  is  decorated  with  a  bas-relief  representing 
the  Bishop  as  a  young  man  kneeling  before  our  Lord,  to  whom 
he  is  presented  by  Angels. 

Another  tomb  attributed  to  Tino,  is   that  of  Bishop  Felice 
Aliotti  in  the  Ptuccellai  Chapel  at  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  but  as  they 

*  The  tomb  of  Henry  YII.,  in  accordance  with  common  usage  at  tho 
time,  was  decorated  with  colours.  Ciampi  in  his  Notizie  Inediti  mentiona 
four  painters  employed  for  this  purpose,  and  th«  expense  incurred  for 
rarnish,  gum,  &c.,  used  by  them. 


58      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptiwe. 

died  in  the  same  year,  and  the  sculptor  spent  the  last  thirteen 
years  of  his  life  at  Naples,  it  can  hardly  be  his  work.  Ho 
went  there  about  1323,  having  been  appointed  by  the  last 
will  and  testament  of  Queen  Maria,  wife  of  Charles  II.  of  Anjou, 
together  Avith  a  M*  Gerardus  da  Sermona,  to  erect  a  monument 
to  her  memory  in  the  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  Domina  Regina.  As 
this  tomb  served  as  a  model  for  the  Angevine  monuments  at  S. 
Chiara,  which  Neapolitan  writers  also  erroneously  attribute  to 
Masuccio  II.,  it  gives  Tino  an  importance  in  the  history  of 
sculpture  as  the  introducer  of  the  Pisan  type  of  tomb  in  the 
south  of  Italy.  The  sarcophagus,  under  a  tent-liko  canopy,  is 
supported  upon  statues  of  the  Virtues,  and  its  front  is  divided 
by  columns  into  Gothic  niches  enriched  with  mosaics,  and 
filled  with  seated  figures  of  King  Eobert  and  lolanthe  of  Aragon, 
his  first  wife,  of  his  father  Charles  II.,  his  son  the  Duke  of 
Calabria,  and  his  brother  St.  Louis  of  Toulouse.  Angels  hold 
back  curtains  from  above  the  effigy  of  the  queen,  which  lies 
under  a  Gothic  canopy  supported  upon  marble  columns 
decorated  with  mosaics.  The  gable  contains  a  medallion  of 
Christ  giving  the  Benediction.  On  one  side  of  it  the  kneeling 
queen  is  presented  by  an  angel  to  the  Madonna,  and  on  the  other 
she  appears  with  the  model  of  the  church  which  she  rebuilt  and 
endowed.  After  the  completion  of  this  monument  (1826)  Tino 
was  chiefly  employed  as  an  architect,  by  Duke  Charles  of  Calabria 
and  by  King  Robert,  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  which 
must  have  ended  before  July  11,  1336,  as  a  successor  to  "the 
late"  royal  architect  Tino  da  Siena,  was  then  appointed.^ 

Maestro  Gano  of  Siena,  one  of  Tino's  contemporaries,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  a  scholar  of  Agostino  and  Agnolo  Sanesi, 
made  the  tombs  of  Bishop  Tommaso  di  Andrea,  and  Raniero 
Porrina,  in  the  collegiate  church  at  Casole.f  The  statue  of 
Porrina  is  the  work  of  one  who  copied  nature  simply  and 
without  pretension.  Dressed  after  the  fashion  of  his  day  in  a 
tight  under-garment,  over  which  his  "  lucco  "  or  mantle  falls 
in  long  straight  folds,  and  holding  a  book  under  his  right  arm, 
this  sturdy  upholder  of  the  Ghibelline  cause  and  most  dcoted 

*  Tino  built  tlie  Incoronata  Chapel  in  the  Cathedral  at  Pisa,  and  made 
a  font  with  sculptures  in  relief,  now  no  longer  extant.  He  was  head- 
master of  the  Sienesc  Cathedral  in  1319-20.     Doc.  San.  vol.  i.  p.  185. 

f  A  small  town,  about  twenty  miles  from  Siena. 


C el  lino  di  Nese.  ^c^ 

partisan  of  the  Emperor  Henry  VII.,  looks  every  inch  tho 
powerful  citizen  he  was  in  life.  A  like  simplicity  in  tho 
treatment  of  form  shows  itself  in  the  monument  of  Bishop 
Tommaso  di  Andrea.*  The  deceased,  with  his  hands  crossed 
upon  his  hreast,  lies  straight  upon  his  back,  while  two  small 
genii  kneel  at  his  head  and  feet,  and  angels  hold  up  a  curtain 
behind  hira.  The  effigy  is  placed  under  a  Gothic  arch  whoso 
lunette  once  contained  a  fresco  by  the  Sienese  painter  Pietro 
Lorenzetti.  The  monuments  of  Cardinal  Petroni  in  the  Duomo 
at  Siena;  of  Ugo  Causaronti  (1346)  in  the  Pieve  delle  Serre 
at  Ptapolano,  and  of  Nicolo  Aringhieri  in  the  university  at  Siena, 
are  ascribed  to  Gano,  but  without  evidence. 

Antonio  Brunaccio,  another  sculptor  of  this  period  who 
took  an  active  part  in  the  civic  broils  and  revolutions  at  Sienna, 
is  mentioned  in  the  Cathedral  records  of  1356,  as  having  been 
paid  for  work  connected  with  the  beautiful  pavement  of  the 
choir.  None  of  his  works  exist,  and  no  particulars  of  his 
career  are  known,  save  that  he  was  the  object  of  an  urgent 
appeal  from  St.  Catherine  of  Siena  to  forsake  the  error  of  his 
ways  and  turn  to  Christ. f 

His  contemporary  Cellino  di  Nese,  architect  and  sculptor, 
■was  called  to  Pistoja  in  1334  to  complete  the  Baptistry,  and  to 
sculpture  the  monument  of  Messer  Cino  (Guittone  Sinabaldi) 
after  the  design  of  an  unknown  Sienese  artist,  for  the  Cathedral. 
Its  Gothic  canopy  with  twisted  columns,  and  its  sarcophagus 
with  a  professorial  bas-relief,  are  features  common  to  other 
monuments  of  the  time,  but  we  do  not  elsewhere  remember 
a  tomb  in  which  the  statues  of  the  deceased  and  his  pupils  are 
introduced,  as   here,  on  the  top    of  the  sarcophagus.      One  of 

*  He  was  made  Bishop  of  Pistoja  in  1283,  and  afterwards  collector  and 
commissary  for  Pope  Nicholas  IV.,  in  Tuscany.     He  died  in  1303. 

f  Another  architect  and  sculptor  of  this  time  mentioned  by  Vasari  in 
the  lives  of  Berna,  Duccio,  and  Quercia,  is  Moccio  of  Siena.  The  monu- 
ment of  Bishop  Simone  at  Arezzo,  in  the  Church  of  S.  Francesco  della 
Scala,  which  Vasari  attributes  to  Moccio,  is  by  Andrea  da  Firenze,  who 
sculptured  that  of  Ferdinand  Sanseverino  in  S.  Giov.  a  Carbonara  at 
Naples.  I\rilanesi  in  his  edition  of  Vasari,  vol.  i.  p.  648  and  657,  note  3, 
states  that  in  1340  Moccio  worked  on  the  enlargement  of  the  Cathedral 
at  Siena,  1345  built  the  wall  of  the  tower  in  the  Piazza,  and  in  1326  was 
architect  of  the  Porta  Pisani.  In  the  Cathedral  records,  he  is  spoken  of 
as  from  Perugia. 


6o      Historical  Handbook  of  Italiaii  SciiIptiLre, 

these  statues  has  a  peculiar  interest  as  it  represents  Selvaggia 
Vcrgiolesi,  who  was  to  Cino,  as  Beatrice  to  Dante  and  Laura  to 
Petrarch,  the  source  of  all  poetical  inspiration  while  living,  and 
the  object  of  unceasing  regret  when  dead.  He  adressed  many 
sonnets  to  her  during  and  after  the  termination  of  the  exile 
(1307-1319)  into  which  he  was  driven  with  her  father  Filippo, 
chief  of  the  Bianchi  faction,  when  the  Neri  triumphed  at 
Pistoja.*  Cino  died  soon  after  his  return  there,  regretted 
by  his  fellow-citizens,  who  sought  by  posthumous  honours  to 
make  amends  for  the  long  wanderings  to  which  their  factious 
quarrels  had  condemned  him.  Siena,  like  Pistoja,  was  also 
in  a  perpetual  state  of  unrest  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  her  intestine  quarrels  ended  in  the 
exile  of  many  artists,  and  reduced  art  in  all  its  branches  to  a 
very  low  ebb.  "X^e  see  evidence  of  this  in  the  mediocre  statues 
of  the  Apostles  which  fill  the  niches  of  the  Cappella  della 
Piazza,  made  between  1376  and  1381,  by  Laudo  di  Stefano, 
Bartolomeo  di  Tomme  (called  Pizziuo),  Mariano  di  Augelo 
Romanelli,  Giovanni  di  Cecco,  and  Matteo  di  Ambrogio  (called 
Sappa),t  as  well  as  in  the  holy- water  vase  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Orvieto  made  by  Lucca  di  Giovanni,  and  in  the  baptismal  font 
opposite  to  it,  which  was  sculptured  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century  by  two  Sienese  and  two  Florentine  artistiS. 
after  the  design  of  Pietro  di  Giovanni  of  Friburg.I 

In  the  year  1374,  when  Giacomo  della  Querela  was  born  near 
Siena,§  her  school  of  sculpture  seemed  to  be  dying  out  altogether. 
This  remarkable  artist,  who  was  the  son  of  a  goldsmith  named 
Pietro  d'Angelo  di  Guarnerio,  studied  the  goldsmith's  art  under 

*  Dante's  letter  to  Cino,  and  the  testimony  of  his  biographers,  seem 
to  prove  that  Cino  fell  in  love  with  many  other  women  after  Selvaggia's 
death,  and  was  fickle  and  inconstant  in  his  new  passion.  VideE'pi'stoZa  TV. 
"Exulanti  Pistoriense,"  and  the  sonnet  beginning  "  lo  mio  creda,"  etc. 
See  Appendix,  letter  I.  II  Convito  e  le  Epistole,  j^p.  432,  437,  ed.  Bar- 
bera,  1862.  Petrarch  wrote  a  sonnet  upon  the  death  of  Cino,  beginning, 
"  Piangete,  donne,  e  con  voi  piangi  amore,"  etc. 

f  jMilanesi,  Siena  e  il  suo  Territorlo,  p.  155. 

X  Valentino  di  Paolo,  Matteo  di  ISTobili,  Pietro  di  Vanni,  and  Giacomo 
di  Pietro  Guidi. 

§  His  surname  of  Quercia  was  derived  either  from  Querela  Grossa,  a 
castle  near  the  walls  of  Siena,  built  in  1271 ;  or  from  Guerco,  or  Guerchio, 
a  popular  word  signifying  workman  (Dr.  Carpellini,  MS.  notes  to 
Eoraagnuoli). 


Giacomo  delta  Querela.  6r 

his  father,  and  sculpture  perhaps  under  Lucca  di  Giovanni. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  brought  himself  into  notice  by  an 
equestrian  statue  of  wood  covered  with  cloth  painted  in  imita- 
tion of  marble,  for  the  funeral  obsequies  of  the  famous  Sienese 
captain  Azzo  Ubaldini.  Soon  after  this,  his  patron  Orlando 
Malevolti,  with  many  other  patriots  who  refused  to  consent  to 
the  disgraceful  surrender  of  the  city  into  the  hands  of  Gian 
Galeazzo  Visconti,  were  driven  into  exile,  and  Quercia,  although 
not  forced  to  do  so,  thought  it  best  to  leave  Siena.*  For  the 
next  nine  or  ten  years  his  history  is  a  blank,  but  in  1401  we 
know  that  he  competed  for  the  gate  of  the  Baptistry  at  Florence, 
and  with  no  little  distinction,  since  the  judges  praised  his  work 
as  next  in  merit  to  that  of  Ghiberti  and  Brunelleschi. 

We  next  find  him  at  Ferrara,  where,  about  1408,  he  sculp- 
tured a  Madonna  and  Child  in  relief,!  and  the  monument  of  a 
Dr.  Vera,  formerly  in  the  Church  of  San  Nicolo,  and  now  in 
the  Church  of  San  Giacomo  Maggiore  at  Bologna,  to  which  it 
was  removed  by  Annibale  Bentivoglio  and  used  as  a  monu- 
ment to  his  father  Antonio.  The  recumbent  effigy  is  placed 
on  an  inclined  plane,  so  that  although  set  high  up  against  the 
wall,  every  part  of  the  figure  is  visible  from  below.  Statuettes 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and  four  figures  of  Force,  Prudence, 
Temperance  and  Faith,  stand  above  the  cornice,  and  the  front 
of  the  sarcophagus  is  adorned  with  a  professorial  bas-relief 
added  after  Quercia' s  day  to  suit  the  monument  to  its  new 
uses,  for  Antonio  Bentivoglio  was  an  eminent  jurist,  as  well  as 
a  politician  and  a  soldier. 

In  the  first  month  of  the  year  1409,  Quercia  entered  into  a  con- 
tract with  the  Signory  of  Siena  to  make  the  celebrated  fountain 
for  the  great  square  of  the  city  from  which  he  derived  the  surname 
of  "  della  Fonte."  The  project  of  bringing  water  from  Fonte- 
branda,  outside  the  walls,  was  conceived  in  the  twelfth  century, 
but  the  conduits  for  this  purpose  were  not  laid  until  the  middle  of 
the  fourteenth  (1343).  The  new  fountain  thus  constructed,  called 
Fonte  Gaja,  was  then  decorated  with  an  antique  statue  of  Venus, 

♦  Vasari  says,  Quercia  made  some  statues  of  propliets  for  the  Duomo 
at  tliis  time ;  but  if  he  ever  did  so,  it  must  have  been  at  a  later  date,  as 
his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  archives  until  after  1417,  and  he  left 
Biena  soon  after  1391. 

t  Eemoved  from  Cathedral  to  the  Capitolo  dei  Canonici. 


62      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlpture. 

supposed  to  be  the  work  of  Lysippus,  which  had  been  dug  up  at 
Siena,  many  years  before.  Fourteen  years  later,  during  which  the 
city  had  been  more  than  usually  disturbed  by  factious  tumults, 
a  member  of  the  council  of  twelve  denounced  this  heathen  idol 
as  the  source  of  their  calamities,  and  advised  that  Heaven  should 
be  appeased  by  breaking  it  in  pieces,  which  when  buried  in 
the  Florentine  territory  might  work  ruin  on  their  adversaries. 
''Dettofu  fatto,"  and  Fonte  Gaja  was  deprived  of  its  only  orna- 
ment, until  Giacomo  della  Querela,  undertook  to  decorate  it  in  a 
more  Christian  fashion.'"  His  contract  bound  him  to  furnish  a 
design  subject  to  public  approval,  to  find  his  own  materials,  and 
to  select  his  assistants.  He  was  to  receive  in  final  payment 
the  sum  of  2,320  florins.  The  design  offered  by  Querela,! 
and  accepted  by  the  Signory,  consisted  of  a  three-sided  marble 
parapet ;  the  central  and  longest  divided  into  nine  niches 
containing  statues  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  and  the  seven 
theological  virtues,  and  the  other  two  decorated  with  bas-reliefs 
representing  the  creation  of  Adam  and  the  expulsion  from 
Paradise.  Marine  animals  bearing  children  on  their  backs,  as 
well  as  wolves,  and  dolphins,  whose  mouths  serve  for  jets, 
rise  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  As  its  general  effect  is 
excellent,  its  design  original,  and  its  details  interesting,  Fonte 
Gaja  deservedly  ranks  among  the  model  fountains  of  the  world. 
The  statues  have  Quercia's  characteristic  grace  of  line,  and  are 
free  from  the  mannerism  which  mars  seme  of  his  best  work. 
Though  far  less  refined  in  style  than  his  great  Florentine  con- 
temporaries, and  given  to  the  use  of  heavy  draperies,  whose 
snakelike  folds  seem  arranged  to  conceal  rather  than  to  veil 
and  enhance  form,  he  had  qualities  which  entitle  him  to  be 
regarded  as  the  best  Italian  sculptor  of  the  fifteenth  century  out- 
side of  Florence.  In  disposition  he  was  amiable  and  modest,  but 

*  First  contract,  dated  Jan.  22,  1409;  second  contract,  1412,  in  which 
year  it  was  commenced.  Date  of  final  quittance,  Oct.  20,  1419.  Vide 
Doc.  delV  Arte  8anesi,vo\.  ii.  pp.  45,  51,  No.  xxxii. ;  also  Romagnuoli  and 
Carpellini. 

t  Tizio  says.  Querela  hound  himself  to  do  the  whole  work  with  his  own 
hands;  but  this  seems  impossible,  as  he  had  five  able  assistants,  who  did 
much  of  it  for  him:  namely,  Sario  or  Ansano  diMatteo,  Paolo  di  Minella, 
Nanni  da  Lucca,  Bastino  di  Corso,  and  Francesco  Valdambrini,  Sienese 
goldsmith  and  sculptor,  one  of  the  competitors  for  the  Baptistry  Gate  at 
Florence  in  1401-2.     Sec  chapter  on  Ghiberti. 


Giacomo  della  Quercia.  62, 

owinj:^  to  his  habit  of  accepting  a  great  deal  more  work  than  he 
could  possibly  carry  on  simultaneously,  he  worried  his  employ- 
ers and  brought  much  trouble  upon  himself.  Thus  in  1413, 
instead  of  staying  at  Siena  to  complete  Fonte  Gaja,  he  went 
to  Lucca  and  remained  there  until  the  Sienese,  who  in  the 
space  of  eight  months  had  five  times  summoned  him  back 
without  eftect,  forced  him  under  a  penalty  of  three  hundred 
florins  to  return  and  finish  their  fountain.  This  was  in  1419, 
when  among  other  works  he  had  finished  at  Lucca  the  monu- 
ment of  Ilaria  del  Carretto,  wife  of  Paolo  Guinigi,  Lord  of 
that  city,  and  daughter  of  Charles,  Marquis  of  Carretto.  No- 
thing remains  of  this  monument,  which  Avas  broken  up  when 
the  tyrant  was  driven  out,  but  the  effigy  and  two  slabs  of  the 
base  decorated  with  children  bearing  festoons.  One  of  these 
is  in  the  Bargello  museum  at  Florence,  and  the  other  with  the 
sepulchral  eflBgy  in  the  cathedral  at  Lucca.  "  I  name  it," 
says  Mr.  Kuskin,*  "  not  as  more  beautiful  or  perfect  than  other 
examples  of  the  same  period,  but  as  furnishing  an  instance  of  the 
exact  and  right  mean  between  the  rigidity  and  rudeness  of  the 
monumental  effigies,  and  the  morbid  imitations  of  life,  sleep  or 
death,  of  w^iich  the  fashion  has  taken  place  in  modern  times. 
The  head  is  laid  straight  and  simply  on  the  hard  j)illow,  in 
which,  let  it  be  observed,  there  is  no  effort  at  deceptive  imitation 
of  pressure.  It  is  understood  as  a  pillow,  but  not  to  be  mis- 
taken for  one.  The  hair  is  bound  up  in  a  flat  braid  over  the 
fair  brow,  the  sweet  and  arched  eyes  are  closed,  the  tenderness 
of  the  loving  lips  is  set  and  quiet ;  there  is  that  about  them 
which  forbids  breath  ;  something  which  is  not  death  nor  sleep, 
but  the  pure  linage  of  both.  The  hands  are  not  lifted  in  pra3-er, 
neither  folded ;  but  the  arms  are  laid  at  length  upon  the  body 
and  the  hands  cross  as  they  fall.  The  feet  are  hidden  by  the 
drapery,  and  the  forms  of  the  limbs  are  concealed,  but  not  their 
tenderness." 

Another  work  executed  by  Quercia  at  Lucca  before  his  return 
to  Siena  was  a  Gothic  altar-piece  for  the  Trenta  chapel  at  San 
Frediano,  where  its  donors  Fedcrigo  di  Trenta  and  his  Avifc  are 
buried.  The  Madonna  and  Child  and  SS.  Sebastian,  Jerome 
and  Lucia  in  its  niches,  are  somewhat  extravagant  in  style,  but 
the  bas-reliefs  in  the  predella,  of  St  Catharine  of  Alexandria 
*  Modern  Painters,  vol.  ii.  ch.  vii. 


64      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

{see  tail-piece),  and  of  the  expulsion  of  a  demon  from  the  body 
of  a  child,  are  delicately  sculptured  and  altogether  pleasing. 
While  still  at  work  upon  this  altar-piece  (1416)  Querela  agreed 
to  model  and  cast  two  bas-reliefs  for  the  Baptistry  at  Siena.* 
He  returned  there,  as  we  have  seen,  shortly  after,  to  complete 
Fonte  Gaja,  but  when  that  was  done,  went  to  Bologna,  where 
he  spent  twelve  years  upon  a  very  important  work,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  presently,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  Sienese 
lost  patience,  and  wrote  to  him  by  a  special  messenger  that 
they  would  fine  him  one  hundred  lire  unless  he  returned  to 
fulfil  his  contract.  Whether  he  did  so  immediately  or  not  we 
do  not  know,  but  in  1428  he  wrote  to  ask  that  the  fine  might 
be  remitted,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  forcibly  detained 
at  Bologna  by  his  employers.  In  1429  he  finished  one  of  the 
bas-reliefs — the  calling  of  St.  Joachim.  The  other  was  finally 
assigned  to  Donatello. 

The  important  work  at  Bologna  which  had  prevented  Querela 
from  fulfilling  his  contract  was  the  construction  and  deco- 
ration of  the  great  portal  of  the  Basilica  of  St.  Petroniusf 
for  which  he  had  contracted  in  the  year  1425.  During  the 
next  two  years  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  visiting  Venice, 
Verona,  and  Carrara,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  marbles  and 
superintending  their  expedition  to  Cino  di  Bartolo,  goldsmith 
and  sculptor,  who  worked  at  Bologna  after  his  designs,  with 
two  assistants  upon  the  ornamental  portions  of  the  door.  In 
1429  Querela  returned  to  Bologna,  and  on  the  24th  of 
October,  having  entered  into  a  second  contract,  devoted  him- 
self, until  1433,  to  the  task  of  designing  and  putting  into 
marble  the  thirty-two  half  figures  of  Patriarchs  and  Prophets 
on  the  side-posts  and  archivolt  of  the  portal,  and  the  fifteen 
bas-reliefs  which  are  disposed  on  either  hand.  Ten  of  these 
reliefs  represent  subjects  taken  from  the  Old  Testament,  from 
the  Creation  of  Adam  to  the  Sacrifice  of  Abraham ;  and  five 
are  taken  from  the  New,  beginning  with  the  Birth  of  Christ, 
and  ending  with  the  Flight  into  Egypt.  Among  all  the  works 
of  Querela,  none  are  so  remarkable  as  the  Old  Testament  series 

*  April  16th,  1616.  They  were  to  be  gilded  at  the  artist's  expense,  and 
he  was  to  receive  180  florins  a- piece. 

t  He  was  invited  to  undertake  this  work  by  Archbishop  Arli,  for  the 
sum  of  3,600  gold  florins. 


Giacomo  delta  Quercia.  65 

of  reliefs,  several  of  wliicli  explain  why  he  has  been  called  the 
precursor  of  Michelangelo.  The  qualities  which  justify  this 
epithet  are  more  especially  conspicuous  in  the  reliefs  of  the 
Creation  of  Adam  and  Eve  and  the  Expulsion  from  Paradise. 
In  these  compositions,  which  recall  those  of  the  same  subjects 
upon  the  roof  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  Quercia  rose  to  a  dignity 
and  grandeur  of  style  equalled  only  there,  and  we  cannot  doubt 
that  Michelangelo,  who  spent  the  year  1494  at  Bologna  and 
returned  there  in  1507,  studied  them,  and  had  them  in  his 
mind  when  he  was  called  upon  to  paint  his  celebrated  frescoes 
at  Eome.  The  resemblance  here  traceable  in  the  works  of 
these  great  artists  extends  in  some  degree  to  their  lives,  for  as 
Michelangelo  had  his  *'  Tragedia  del  Sepulcro,"  so  had  Quercia 
his  **  Tragedia  della  Porta."  Broken  contracts  and  ceaseless 
pecuniary  difficulties  harassed  the  lives  of  both,  and  as  Michel- 
angelo fled  to  Florence  with  the  hope  of  bringing  Pope  Julius 
to  reason,  so  did  Quercia  take  refuge  at  Parma,  thinking  thus 
to  force  his  employers  at  Bologna  to  confirm  his  original  con- 
tract. Whether  they  did  so  or  not  is  unknown,  but  certain  it 
is  that  in  1434  Quercia  was  at  Siena,  where  he  finally  esta- 
blished himself  in  1437,  the  year  before  his  death,  leaving  his 
master-work  at  Bologna  incomplete.  The  directors  then  warmly 
urged  Jacopo's  brother,  Priamo,  who  was  sculptor  as  well  as 
painter,  to  finish  it,  but  in  vain,  for  his  one  visit  to  Bologna  in 
1442  was  made  solely  to  regain  possession  of  the  property 
which  Jacopo  had  left  behind  him.  In  this  hope  he  was  alto- 
gether disappointed,  if  it  be  true  that  800  gold  florins,  with  a 
gold  ring  and  clothes  and  drawings  worth  400,  had  been  stolen 
by  Cino  di  Bartolo,  and  that  the  rest  of  Jacopo's  effects  had 
been  sequestrated  by  his  employers  to  compensate  them  for 
loss  of  time  and  annoyance.  In  1435  Quercia  \^sited  Bologna 
for  the  last  time,  and  may  then  have  sculptured  the  Madonna 
with  angels,  now  in  the  Museum  of  the  University.  He  died, 
according  to  the  records  of  the  Cathedral  of  Siena,  on  the  20th  of 
October,  1438. 

None  among  his  scholars,  with  perhaps  the  single  exception 
of  Antonio  Federighi,  are  recognizable  by  their  works.  Niccola 
da  Bari,  whom  we  have  already  mentioned  in  the  life  of 
Niccola  Pisano,  and  who  is  said  to  have  studied  under 
Quercia,    had   four    surnames,    three    of  which,    **  da   Bari," 

F 


66      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

**  II  Dalmata,"  and  *' II  Bologuese,"  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to 
his  birthplace.  He  is  said  to  have  been  born  about  1414,  and 
to  have  been  brought  to  Bologna  at  a  very  early  age.  His 
fourth  surname,  "  dell'  Area,"  is  derived,  as  we  have  previously 
pointed  out,  from  the  monumental  altar  over  the  sarcophagus 
sculptured  by  Niccola  Pisauo  to  hold  the  bones  of  S.  Dominic. 
Like  the  Greek  sculptor  Kallimachos,  he  wasted  much  of  his 
time  in  such  microscopic  work  as  a  fly  no  larger  than  a  grain 
of  millet,  and  a  cage  full  of  birds  not  more  than  three  centi- 
metres in  height.  A  terra-cotta  Madonna  on  the  exterior  of 
the  municipal  palace  at  Bologna,  a  coloured  bas-relief  of 
Anuibalo  Bentivoglio  in  the  church  of  San  Giacomo  Maggiore, 
and  one  of  the  candle-bearing  angels  on  the  altar  of  the  shrine  of 
San  Domenico  in  the  same  city  are  attributed  to  him,  but  whether 
correctly  or  not  is  uncertain.*  The  chronicler  Girolamo  de 
Barzellis  describes  him  as  an  eccentric  and  morose  person, 
who  spent  little,  would  accept  no  pupils,  and  passed  his  life  in 
solitude.  It  is  said  that  when  dying  (1494),  he  expressed  the 
wish  that  he  could  destroy  everything  that  he  had  ever  made. 
Other  pupils  of  Querela  were  Nanni,  who  worked  at  Orvieto,  and 
carved  ornaments  about  Fonte  Gaja  at  Siena ;  Pietro  del 
Minella  f  (1391-1458),  who  made  all  the  marble  work  about 
the  font  in  the  Sienese  Baptistry,  worked  in  intaglio  and  intar- 
sia  at  Orvieto,  where  he  was  capo-macstro  from  1431  to  1433, 
and  filled  the  same  office  at  a  later  period  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Siena,  in  which  he  built  the  Cajjpella  di  San  Crescenzio ;  and 
Antonio  Federighi  detto  de'  Tolomei,  who  made  the  statues 
of  SS.  Ansano  and  Crescenzio  in  the  niches  of  the  Loggia 
degli  Uffiziali  at  Siena  (14G0),  designed  and  executed  (1476) 
the  Seven  Ages  of  Man  and  other  compositions  in  the  pavement 
of  the  Cathedral,!  and  superintended  the  studies  of  eight  young 

*  Bee  chap.  ii.  book  iii. 

t  There  were  four  artists  of  this  family,  three  sons  of  Tommaso  del 
Minella,  viz.  Antonio,  Giovanni,  and  Pietro;  and  one,  Bernardino,  son  of 
Antonio. 

X  In  the  little  Chapel  "de'  Turchi,"  called  the  Palazzo  dei  DiavoH, 
outside  the  Porta  CamoUio  at  Siena,  there  is  a  bas-relief  of  glazed  tei-ra- 
cotta,  probably  by  Federighi,  which,  -with  the  four  Evangelists  in  the 
church  of  San  Niccola,  now  the  Insane  Hospital,  has  been  attributed  to 
Cecco  di  Giorgio,  worker  in  terra-cotta.  See  Vasari,  Commentary  to  the 
Jjife  of  Luca  dclla  Eohhia,  vol.  iii.  p.  82,  note  1. 


//  Vccchietta,  67 

men,  who  were  educated  as  sculptors  at  the  expense  of  the 
Fabbrica.  He  also  worked  as  architect  and .  sculptor  at 
Orvieto.* 

Quercia's  best  pupil  was  Lorenzo  di  Pietro  di  Giovanni 
di  Lando,  commonly  known  as  II  Veccbietta,  goldsmith,  archi- 
tect, sculptor  and  painter,  born  at  Castiglione  di  Valdorcio,  in 
the  Sienese  territory,  in  1412.  No  example  of  his  goldsmith's 
work  is  extant, f  but  all  lovers  of  the  Sienese  school  know  his 
pictures  at  Siena,  and  Florence,  and  his  masterpiece,  the 
Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  at  Pienza.  Between  14G5  and  1472 
he  made  a  bronze  tabernacle  for  the  Hospital  "  della  Scala," 
at  Siena,  decorated  with  a  statuette  of  Christ  and  numerous 
angels  and  children,  which  was  thence  removed  to  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  placed  upon  the  high  altar.  A  better  example  of  II 
Vecchietta's  hard  dry  style  is  the  bronze  effigy  of  a  famous 
Sienese  jurisconsult,  Marino  Soccino  the  elder,  which  formed 
part  of  a  monument  formerly  in  the  church  of  San  Domenico 
at  Siena,  and  is  now  at  Florence  in  the  museum  of  the  Bargello.  j 
The  head  is  not  unlike  that  of  Dante,  and  appears  to  have 
been  cast  from  life,  as  well  as  the  hands  and  feet,  but  the 
drapery  is  hard  and  unpliable,  like  that  of  his  two  statues  of 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  in  the  niches  of  the  Loggia  de'  Mercanti  or 
*'  degli  Uffiziali,"  which  are  pure  in  style,  though  equally 
meagre  in  form  and  drapery.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
II  Veccbietta  built,  decorated,  and  endowed  a  chapel  in  the 
Hospital,  for  which  he  modelled  and  cast  the  candle-bearing 
angels  which  stand  above  the  altar,  and  the  bronze  statue  ot 
Christ,  which  has  a  serpent  with  a  woman's  head  coiled  around 
the  base  on  which  he  rests  his  cross.  This  figure  is  mannered 
in  attitude  and  hard  in  style.  Other  works  attributed  to 
this  artist,  who  died  at  Siena  in  1480,  are  an  altar  in  the 
Chapel  of  St.  Catherine  at  San  Domenico,  and  a  Christ 
between  two  angels  in  the  house  of  the  Sacristan  of  the 
Madonna  di  Fontegiusta. 

*  Giovanni  di  Stefano,  who  made  two  of  the  bronze  angels  above  the 
altar  of  the  Cathedral,  was  his  scholar ;  so  also  were  Vito  di  Marco  (1456) ; 
Franc,  di  Burtolo  (1437-1497) ;  and  Barto.  di  Domenico  (1472-1522). 

f  The  silver  bust  or  statue  of  St.  Catherine,  which  II  Vecchietta  made 
Boon  after  her  canonization,  disappeared  in  1555,  when  Siena  was 
besieged. 

X  Sold  by  his  descendants  to  the  Grand  Duke  Ferdinando  IIL 


68      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Among  his  most  noted  contemporaries  were  Turino  di  Sano 
di  Tiira  da-  Vignano,  goldsmith,  and  his  son  Giovanni,  gold- 
smith, sculptor,  and  niellist,  who  was  born  about  1384  and  died 
about  1455.  In  1417  these  two  artists  were  commissioned  to 
cast  two  bronze  bas-reliefs  of  the  Birth  of  St.  John  and  of  his 
Preaching  in  the  Desert,  for  the  Font  in  the  Baptistry  at  Siena. 
These  works  were  finished  in  1427,  and  Giovanni  then  received 
commissions  for  the  enamelled  bronze  frieze  of  the  font,  for 
three  statuettes  of  Charity,  Justice  and  Prudence,  to  be 
placed  between  the  bas-reliefs,  and  for  three  *' putti "  in  the 
round,  to  stand  above  the  marble  tabernacle  which  rises  from 
the  middle  of  the  font.  These  works  were  finished  in  1431. 
In  1425,  Turino  and  his  son  sculptured  the  three  figures  in 
relief  of  Saints  John  the  Evangelist,  Paul  and  Matthew,  for  an 
intended  pulpit  at  the  Cathedral,  Avhich  are  now  set  in  the  wall 
near  the  altar  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  and  in  1429  Giovanni 
cast  the  Ptoman  wolf  in  bronze,  which  still  stands  on  a  column 
near  the  Palazzo  del  Commune.  His  brother  Lorenzo  and  his 
three  sons,  Turino,  Agostino  and  Pietro,  of  whom  the  two  first 
were  sculptors  and  the  last  a  painter,  assisted  him  in  his 
various  works.* 

Francesco  di  Gioi'gio  Martini,  architect,  engineer,  sculptor, 
painter,  bronze-caster  and  writer  (1439-1506),  was  probably  one 
of  the  scholars  of  II  Vecchietta.  This  many-sided  artist 
gained  special  celebrity  as  military  architect  and  engineer. 
Among  the  many  Italian  princes  who  solicited  and  obtained  his 
services  in  these  capacities,  the  chief  was  Duke  Federigo  of 
Urbino,  who,  as  Francesco  tells  us  in  his  famous  treatise  upon 
military  architecture,  employed  him  to  build  many  edifices  of 
various  kinds,  and  to  sculpture  a  series  of  military  machines, 
arms,  and  trophies  in  relief  for  the  facade  of  the  Ducal 
Palace. -j-  These  works,  which  now  adorn  the  walls  of  a 
corridor  in  its  lower  storey,  show  fertility  of  invention,  but 
they  give  us  a  less  fair  idea  of  his  powers  as  a  sculptor  than  the 

*  See  the  Commentary  to  the  lives  of  Antonio  and  Piero  del  Pollajuolo, 
for  an  account  of  the  Turini.     Milanesi,  ed.  Vasari,  vol.  iii.  pp.  303-307. 

+  Trattato  iV  Architettura,  etc.  etc.,  di  Fco.  di  Giorgio  Martini,  pub. 
by  Cav.  Cesaro  Saluzzo,  con  Diss,  e  Note  di  Carlo  Promis.  Turino,  1841. 
That  the  Duke  highly  estimated  his  genius,  goodness,  and  prudence,  is 
proved  by  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  Republic  of  Siena  (Ricca,  op.  cit. 
vol.  ii.  p.  538). 


Lorenzo  di  Mariano.  69 

two  bronze  angels  which  he  cast  (1497)  as  pendants  to  those, 
by  Giovanni  di  Stefano,  on  either  side  of  II  Vecchiettd's 
tabernacle,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Siena.  In  attitude,  expression, 
and  treatment  they  are  excellent,  as  are  the  candle-bearing 
angels  on  the  sides  of  the  same  altar,  which  are  also  attributed 
to  him.  The  tomb  of  the  Cav.  Cristofano  Felice  in  the  church 
of  San  Francesco,  long  supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of 
this  sculptor,  who  died  at  Siena  in  1502,  is  now  assigned 
to  another  of  II  Vecchietta's  pupils,  Urbano  da  Cortona,  who 
sculptured  a  bas-relief  over  the  door  of  the  Oratory  of  St. 
Catherine.  Francesco's  own  pupil,  Giacomo  Cozzarelli  (1453- 
1515),  who  surpassed  his  master  as  a  bronze  caster  and  worker 
in  iron,  made  the  torch  holders  upon  the  Palazzo  Petrucci  and 
the  Palazzo  del  Magnifico  at  Siena,  which  are  rivalled  only 
by  those  of  the  Palazzo  Strozzi  at  Florence,  the  ne  plus  ultra  of 
this  sort  of  Pienaissance  work.  Michelangelo  Sanese,  a  sculp- 
tor who  is  mentioned  by  Cellini  as  one  of  his  favourite 
companions  at  Kome,  was  Cozzarelli's  scholar.*  He  spent  the 
early  part  of  his  life  in  Schiavonia,  and  was  called  to  Rome 
by  Baldassar  Peruzzi,  the  famous  Sienese  architect,  to  carry  out 
his  design  for  the  monument  of  Pope  Adrian  VI.  in  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  dell'  Anima. 

The  last,  and  one  of  the  best  Sienese  artists  whom  we  shall 
mention  is  Lorenzo  di  Mariano,  called  II  Marina  or  Marinna, 
who  about  the  year  1517  sculptured  the  very  beautiful  High 
Altar  of  the  church  of  Fontegiusta,  which  is  traditionally 
reported  to  have  been  carried  to  Rome  on  the  backs  of  mules 
to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  Pope  Julius  II.  This  work, 
which  rivals  the  marbles  of  Mine,  Desiderio  and  Rosellino  in 
excellence,  consists  of  a  bas-relief  of  Christ  with  angels  in  the 
lunette,  a  statuette  of  a  child  above  the  keystone  of  the  arch, 
a  row  of  cherubs'  heads  around  the  door  of  the  central  tabernacle, 
and  a  profusion  of  exqusitely  sculptured  birds,  scrolls,  griffins, 
&c.  &c.,  about  the  frieze,  column-capitals  and  side-spaces.  The 
portal  of  the  chapel  of  S.  Giovanni,  the  fa9ade  of  the  so 
called  Libreria  in  the  Cathedral  (1497),  the  marble  decorations 
of  an  altar  at  S.  Martino  (1522),  and  the  MarsiH  altar  at  San 

♦  Probably  identical  with  Michael  Angelo  di  Bernardino  di  Michele. 
/See  Vasari,  vol,  viii.  p.  227,  vol.  ix.  p.  18;  Collini's  Autohiographij,  ]pp. 
59-63. 


/O      Histo7^ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadpttire. 

Francesco,  are  attributed  to  the  same  charming  sculptor,  who 
died  in  1534. 

The  annals  of  the  sixteenth  century  furnish  us  with  no  other 
artists  of  note  among  Sienese  sculptors.  With  the  loss  of 
her  liberties,  Siena  seems  to  ha^ve  lost  her  artistic  power,  and 
when  she  was  added  to  Tuscany  under  the  sceptre  of  Cosmo 
de'  Medici  in  1555,  she  brought  in  dower  no  new  names  worthy 
to  rank  with  those  of  the  best  Tuscan  sculptors. 


St.  Catherine.    (By  G.  della  Querela.) 


BOOK     II. 


THE    EARLY    RENAISSANCE. 


Ghiberti  and  Donatello,  73 


CHAPTER  I. 

GHIBERTI  AND   DONATELLO. 

Florence  can  liardly  be  said  to  have  had  a  school  of  sculpture 
before  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Ghiberti,  Donatello,  Luca 
della  Eobbia,  and  other  remarkable  sculptors  worked  under  the 
stimulating  influences  of  the  early  Renaissance.  Unlike  Pisa, 
whose  revival  in  art  was  due  to  an  architectural  sculptor, 
Niccola  Pisano,  she  owed  her  revival  to  a  painter,  Cimabue, 
whose  greater  scholar,  Giotto,  influenced  all  art  manifestations 
throughout  the  fourteenth  century.  At  its  close  the  two  streams 
met  in  Florence,  which  thenceforth  took  the  lead  in  both  arts. 
The  period  was  singularly  favourable  for  a  healthy  artistic  deve- 
lopment, as  it  formed  a  halting-ground  between  an  age  of  strong 
religious  feeling,  and  one  when  Paganism  was  to  permeate  every 
form  of  literature  and  art.  The  waning  influence  of  the  Church 
was  still  strong  enough  to  keep  Pagan  sentiment  in  check, 
although  it  was  at  the  same  time  too  weak  to  attempt  to  control 
that  growing  enthusiasm  for  the  antique,  which  was  fostered  by 
the  study  of  the  masterpieces  of  classic  art  then  daily  added  to 
the  collections  of  the  time. 

The  spirit  of  the  early  Renaissance  which  prompted  architects 
like  Brunellesqhi  and  Michelozzo,  and  sculptors  like  Ghiberti  and 
Donatello,  to  study  the  antique  in  order  to  assimilate  its  prin- 
ciples, was  life-giving  and  progressive,  but  that  of  the  latev 
Renaissance  which  cast  ofl"  even  the  semblance  of  respect  for 
religion,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  direct  imitation  of  ancient 
masterpieces,  was  deadening  and  destructive.  So  completely 
did  classic  art  and  literature  usurp  the  first  place  in  men's 
afiections,  that  few  were  scandalised  when  Ficino  kept  a 
never-extinguished  lamp  burning  before  the  bust  of  Plato, 
as  before  that  of  a  saint ;  when  Sigismund  Pandolfo  dedicated 
a  temple  to  his  concubine  Isotta  da  Rimini,  and  covered  its 
walls  with  their  interlaced  cyphers  ;  when  painters  represented 


74      Histoincal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdptnre. 

the  Madonna  under  the  features  of  a  well  known  courtesan ; 
when  the  secretary  of  a  pope  called  Jesus  Christ  a  hero,  and  the 
Vh'gin  a  goddess,  and  a  sculptor  modelled  the  loves  of  Leda 
and  the  swan  among  the  ornaments  of  the  great  doorway  of  the 
Basilica  dedicated  to  the  chief  of  the  Apostles.  These  abuses, 
which  would  have  filled  the  men  of  the  fourteenth  and  early 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century  with  horror,  and  which  gradually 
increased  until  they  roused  Savonarola  to  pour  out  threatenings 
of  wrath  to  come,  were  unknown  in  Ghiberti's  youth,  when 
Florence  enjoyed  comparative  peace,  and  art  grew  under  the 
kindly  influence  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  who  used  his  great 
wealth,  before  and  after  his  accession  to  power,  neither  as  a  means 
of  gratifying  his  factitious  wants,  and  of  dazzling  the  multitude 
by  displaj',  nor  of  carrying  on  political  intrigues  with  a  view  to 
eelf-aggrandizement,  but  of  encouraging  men  of  learning  and 
genius,  promoting  the  discovery  of  precious  manuscripts,  gems 
and  coins,  and  serving  the  cause  of  art,  in  which  his  taste  was 
exquisite,  of  letters,  in  which  he  was  himself  deeply  versed,  and 
of  philosophy,  upon  which  his  judgment  was  as  just  as  it  was 
profound. 

Averse  to  show,  simple  in  his  habits,  and  alive  to  every  form 
of  culture,  this  noble  citizen  was  eminently  qualified  to  lead  in 
the  great  intellectual  movement  which  radiated  from  Florence 
to  every  part  of  Italy.  He  maintained  the  most  friendly 
relations  with  all  the  eminent  artists  of  his  time,  and  more 
especially  with  Donatello,  Brunelleschi  and  Michelozzo,  but 
he  seems  to  have  looked  with  less  favour  upon  Ghiberti,  not 
from  want  of  appreciation  of  his  great  abilities,  but  because 
he  found  his  disposition  less  congenial,  and  also,  perhaps, 
because  his  course  of  action  did  not  always  satisfy  him. 

This  great  artist,  Lorenzo  di  Clone  Ghiberti,  born  in  1378, 
was  the  son  of  Clone  di  Ser  Buonaccorso  and  Madonna  Fiore, 
whose  family  removed  from  Fiesole*  to  Florence  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  where  several  of  its  members  from  time  to  time  held  im- 
portant positions  in  the  government  of  the  church  and  the  city. 
When  Lorenzo  was  very  young  his  father  died,  and  his  mother 
soon  after  married  a  noted  goldsmith,  Bartolo  di  Michieli,  who 
exercised  a  most  important  influence  upon  his  stepson's  career. 

*  "  Venere  ut  fertui*,  Fesulana  ex  arce  Ghiberti "  (Baldinucci,  vol.  i. 
p  348). 


Lorenzo  GJiiberti.  75 

That  the  relation  between  them  was  in  every  respect  like  that 
of  father  and  son,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Lorenzo  called  him- 
self di  Bartolo — that  is  the  son  of  Bartolo — till  he  was  more 
than  sixty  years  old,  and  he  would  probably  never  have  taken  his 
paternal  name  had  he  not  been  forced  to  do  so  in  order  to  clear 
himself  from  the  stigma  of  illegitimacy  cast  at  him  by  his 
enemies  in  order  to  defeat  his  election  to  the  magistracy.* 

In  Bartolo' s  workshop  Ghiberti  obtained  that  elementary 
knowledge  of  all  the  arts  which  was  of  such  infinite  advantage 
to  him  in  after  life.  To  estimate  the  advantage  of  such  training 
we  must  drop  our  modern  ideas  of  the  goldsmith,  as  one  who 
makes  articles  for  personal  adornment  and  table  use  out  of  the 
precious  metals,  with  but  little  thought  for  their  artistic  beauty. 
The  goldsmith  of  the  Renaissance,  on  the  contrary,  had  to  be 
proficient  in  all  the  arts,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  demands  made 
upon  him,  for  he  was  called  upon  to  exercise  each  in  his  craft. 
He  played  the  architect  in  little,  when  he  fashioned  niches 
around  the  stem  of  a  chalice ;  he  became  a  sculptor  when  he 
modelled  images  of  Saints  to  fill  its  niches,  or  reliefs  to  adorn 
the  surfaces  of  its  base  or  supporting  shaft ;  a  painter  when  he 
enriched  it  with  enamels,  and  an  engraver  when  he  used  a  sharp 
metal  point  to  trace  figures  upon  its  surface,  whose  grooved  out- 
lines and  hatched  shadow-lines  he  afterwards  filled  with  niello 
paste.  Versed  in  the  laws  of  colour  and  ornament,  master,  in 
short,  both  theoretically  and  practically,  of  all  the  arts  of  design, 
the  goldsmith  was  the  best  of  teachers  for  artists  of  every  kind, 
and  this  explains  why  so  many  of  the  great  Italian,  German  and 
French  architects,  sculptors  and  painters  of  the  fourteenth,  fifth- 
teenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries  began  their  education  in  the 
goldsmith's  workshop.  There,  dealing  with  materials  whose  very 
nature  precluded  haste,  they  acquired  those  habits  of  precision, 
care,  and  patience  which  made  them  what  they  were.  No  better 
example  of  the  effect  of  such  an  education  could  be  selected  than 
Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  whose  skill  in  dealing  with  the  precious 
metals,  and  in  bronze  casting,  has  probably  never  been  surpassed. 

Although  his  life  was  to  be  passed  in  the  exercise  of  these 
arts,  it  was  not  as  goldsmith  or  sculptor  that  he  first  obtained 
repute,  but  as  painter.     In  1399,  when  the  plague  broke  out  in 

*  Gaye,  Carlegg'w,  vol.  i.  pp.   148  et  seq.     See  also  Gualandi,  fourth 
series,  pp.  17-31.    The  petition  is  dated  April  27,  1444. 


76      Histo7'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlphire. 

Florence,  lie  went  to  Kimini  with  a  brother  artist  to  assist  him 
in  painting  certain  frescoes  in  the  palace  of  Carlo  Malatesta, 
and  showed  so  much  ability  that  he  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
prince,  who  endeavoured  to  attach  him  to  his  service  by  advan- 
tageous offers  cf  advancement  and  employment,  which,  as 
Ghiberti  himself  tells  us,*  he  would  have  accepted,  had  he  not 
received  a  letter  from  his  stepfather  urging  his  return  to  Flo- 
•rence,  .on  the  ground  that  the  Signory  and  the  Merchants'] 
Guild  had  invited  all  Italian  artists  to  compete  for  a  bronze 
door  for  the  Baptistry.  Convinced  that  this  golden  opportunity 
of  winning  fame  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  Ghiberti  with  some 
difficulty  obtained  permission  to  leave  Eimini,  and  having  en- 
tered his  name  on  the  list  of  competitors,  was  chosen  with  six 
other  artists  to  model  and  cast  a  bas-relief  representing  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac,  it  being  understood  that  the  final  adjudication 
would  be  made  to  the  most  meritorious  competitor  at  the  end 
of  a  year.  Of  the  seven  contestants,  two  were  Florentines, 
Ghiberti  and  Brunelleschi ;  two  Sienese,  Querela  and  Valdam- 
briui ;  two  Aretines,  Niccolo  di  Luca  Spinelli  and  Niccolo 
Lamberti;f  and  one,  Simono,  from  Colle,  a  town  midway 
between  Florence  and  Siena.  |  By  this  selection,  which  was 
fairly    made  in  respect   to    nationality,   the   competition   was 

*  In  his  Second  Commentary,  Magliabecchian  library,  cL  xvii.  cod.  33. 
Vide  Cicognara,  vol.  iv. ;  vide  Vasari,  vol.  i. 

t  (See  Appendix,  letter  K. 

X  Francesco  Yaldambrini  di  Domenico  da  Valdambra,  Sienese  gold- 
smith and  sculptor,  1401,  competed  for  the  Baptistry-gate  at  Florence; 
1412,  worked  with  Quercia  upon  the  Fonte  Gaja ;  1416,  sat  in  the 
magisterial  body  at  Siena;  mentioned  in  1454,  when  he  was  sent  as 
Castellano  to  Lusiguano.  Niccolo  di  Luca  Spinelli  was  a  brother  of 
Spinello  Aretino  the  painter;  Simone  da  Colle  is  otherwise  unknown. 
Niccolo  di  Piero  de'  Lamberti,  called  Pela,  from  Arezzo,  is  spoken  of  by 
Vasari  as  a  scholar  of  Moccio,  which  is  doubtful.  Among  his  works  arc 
two  statues  of  saints  in  the  third  storey  of  Giotto's  Campanile,  between 
those  by  Donatello ;  the  statue  of  St.  Mark  in  a  chapel  of  the  Tribune  in 
the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  finished  in  1415 ;  the  Madonna  and  Angel 
above  the  niche  which  contains  Ghiberti's  statue  of  St.  Matthew  on  the 
exterior  of  San  JNlichele;  a  bas-relief  of  the  Madonna  della  Misericordia 
with  Saints,  outside  the  church  of  the  Maria  della  Misericordia  at  Arezzo, 
and  two  statuettes  of  saints  on  the  fa9ade  of  the  Vescovado.  Gaye, 
Cartegcjio.  i.  82,  gives  records  of  this  artist  from  1390  to  1407.  The  last 
record  of  him  in  the  books  of  the  Cathedral  at  Florence  is  in  1419. 
Milanesi.  ed.  Vasari,  notes  1  and  2,  p.  142,  vol.  ii.,  says  he  was  alive  in  1444. 


Lorejizo  Ghiberti.  77 

limited  to  Florence  and  Siena,  for  although  competitors  from 
other  parts  of  Italy  presented  themselves,  none  were  accepteJ. 
When  the  trial-plates  were  presented  to  the  judges,  they 
selected  those  of  the  two  Florentines  as  the  best,  and  con- 
sidered them  so  nearly  equal  in  merit  that  they  were  puzzled 
how  to  award  the  prize ;  but  they  were  rescued  from  their 
hesitation  by  Brunelleschi,  who  disinterestedly  avowed  his 
rival's  superiority  and  withdrew  from  the  field.*  Ghiberti 
owed  his  victory  to  his  stepfather  as  much  as  to  his  own 
genius,  for  during  the  year  of  preparation  Bartolo  had  care- 
fully criticized  the  many  designs  which  he  encouraged  him  to 
make,  and  had  successively  submitted  them  to  the  judgment  of 
competent  citizens,  and  strangers  of  note,  before  permitting  his 
stepson  to  cast  the  one  which  the  majority  considered  most 
excellent. 

"When  we  compare  the  trial-plates  of  Ghiberti  and  Brunel- 
leschi at  the  Bargello,  we  wonder  that  the  judges  should  have 
hesitated  between  them,  for  while  the  one  is  distinguished  for 
clearness  of  narration,  grace  of  line,  and  repose,  the  other  is 
melo-dramatic  in  conception,  and  inferior  in  composition. t 
Ghiberti's  Abraham  stands  ready  to  slay  his  son  in  obedience 
to  the  Divine  command,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  does  so 
with  the  hope  of  respite,  although  he  does  not  yet  see  the 
ram  caught  in  a  thicket  behind  him,  which  is  to  serve  as  a 
substitute  for  the  submissive  Isaac.  We  note  also  as  a  point  of 
excellence,  that  the  servants,  and  the  ass  which  brought  the 
faggots  for  the  sacrifice,  are  so  skilfully  grouped  below,  that 
they  play  their  part  in  the  story  without  distracting  attention 
from  the  principal  group.  Brunelleschi's  Abraham,  unlike 
that  of  his  rival,  is  a  savage  zealot,  whose  knife  is  already 
half  buried  in  the  throat  of  bis  writhing  victim,  and  who,  in 
his  hot  haste,  does  not  heed  the  ram  which  is  placed  directly 
before  him,  nor  the  angel,  who  seizes  his  wrist  to  avert  his 
blow,  while  the  ass,  and  the  two  servants,  each  carry  on  a 
separate  action,  and  fill   up  the  foreground   so   obtrusively   as 

*  Kov.  23,  1403.     Gaj'e,  Carteggio,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 

t  Milanesi,  ed.  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  226,  note  1,  quotes  Cicognara's  obser- 
vation that  the  rival  plate  of  Brunelleschi  being  made  of  several  pieces  of 
bronze,  proves  his  ignorance  of  the  art  of  casting.  That  of  Ghiberti  is 
cast  in  a  single  piece  of  metal. 


yS      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptiu'e. 

to  divert  the  eye  from  the  main  group.  For  these  reasons  wo 
think  that  his  composition  is  inferior  to  that  of  his  rival,  though 
both,  judged  according  to  the  laws  of  sculpture,  maybe  criticized 
as  too  pictorial  in  treatment. 

When  on  the  23rd  of  November,  1403,  Ghiberti  received 
the  commission  for  his  first  Baptistry-gates,  and  prepared  to 
commence  them,  he  little  thought  that  they  would  not  be 
completed  and  set  up  (April  14th,  1424),  in  the  doorway- 
opposite  the  Cathedral  where  the  gates  of  Andrea  Pisano  then 
stood,  until  the  years  which  had  elapsed  since  he  began  them 
were  nearly  equal  in  number  to  the  bas-reliefs  with  which  he 
had  enriched  their  panels.  Twenty  represent  subjects  taken 
from  the  History  of  our  Lord,  and  the  remaining  eight,  the 
four  Evangelists  and  the  four  Doctors  of  the  church. 

The  most  remarkable  among  the  compositions  are  the  An- 
nunciation, in  which  the  modest  Virgin  shelters  herself  in  the 
presence  of  the  angel  beneath  a  little  portico  of  exquisite  de- 
sign, the  Nativity,  the  Presentation,  the  Ptesurrection  of  Laza- 
rus a  perfected  Byzantine  type,  and  the  Temptation.  Of  the 
single  figures,  all  of  which  are  of  dignified  presence  and  ad- 
mirably draped,  the  finest  is  perhaps  the  St.  Matthew,  who 
sits  writing  under  the  inspiration  of  one  of  those  exquisite  little 
angels  which  none  but  Ghiberti  could  have  fashioned.  Had  he 
never  lived  to  make  the  second  gates,  which  to  the  world  in 
general  are  far  superior  to  the  first,  he  would  have  been  known 
in  history  as  a  continuator  of  the  school  of  Andrea  Pisano, 
enriched  with  all  those  added  graces  which  belonged  to  his  own 
style,  and  those  refinements  of  technic  which  the  progress  made 
in  bronze  casting  had  rendered  possible.  Before  the  first  gates 
were  completed,  Brunelleschi  had  reduced  the  laws  of  perspec- 
tive to  a  system  and  made  it  applicable  to  all  the  Arts.  The  ap- 
plication of  this  science  to  painting  simply  revolutionized  that 
art,  for  whereas  the  scholars  of  Giotto  and  Orgagna  had  painted 
landscape  and  architectural  backgrounds  without  any  other 
guide  to  correctness  than  the  eye,  their  successors  were  enabled 
through  Brunelleschi's  invention  to  make  perspective  foreshor- 
tenings  based  on  mathematical  laws,  and  thus  represent  objects 
in  nature  with  absolute  truth.  This  was  an  incalculable  service 
to  painters,  but  to  sculptors,  whose  art  admits  of  no  attempt 
at  visual  deception^  it  was  a  snare^  into  which  Ghiberti  and  hia 


Lo7'enzo  GJiijerti.  79 

followers  fell,  for  by  the  use  of  perspective  in  sculpture  they 
perverted  the  true  character  of  their  art,  and  gave  it  that  wrong 
direction  which  eventually  brought  it  into  a  perfectly  false  and 
vicious  condition.  The  date  of  Brunelleschi's  discovery  is 
approximately  fixed  by  the  fact,  that  while  there  is  no  endeavour 
to  use  perspective  in  the  reliefs  of  the  first  Baptistry-gates, 
those  of  the  second,  begun  in  1424,  are  based  upon  it ;  but  we 
are  justified  in  supposing  that  the  science  was  applied  to 
sculpture  some  four  or  five  years  earlier,  as  in  Donatello's  bas- 
relief  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  the  architectural  and  land- 
scape accessories  are  represented  in  perspective.  It  speedily 
became  the  rage  among  artists.  Paolo  Uccello  the  painter 
pushed  his  passion  for  it  to  the  verge  of  insanity,  and  his 
scholar,  the  great  Mantegna,  mastered  it  only  to  be  mastered 
by  it  in  turn.  Ghiberti  caught  the  fever,  and  when  the  Signory 
showed  their  appreciation  of  his  first  gates  by  giving  him 
a  commission  (January  2nd,  1424)  for  the  second,  he 
entered  upon  the  task  in  the  spirit  of  a  painter,  with  brushes 
of  steel  and  a  canvas  of  bronze.  The  subjects  which  he  was 
to  represent  in  his  reliefs  had  been  selected  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament at  the  request  of  the  Deputies,  by  Liouardo  Bruni, 
chancellor  of  the  Republic,  a  man  noted  for  his  judgment  and 
literary  ability.  In  his  answer  to  their  letter,  Bruni  wrote  as 
follows  : — "  I  think  that  the  ten  stories  which  you  have  directed 
me  to  select  from  the  Old  Testament  should  possess  capacity 
for  illustration,  by  which  I  mean  that  they  should  afi"ord  oppor- 
tunity for  variety  in  composition,  which  is  pleasant  to  the  eye, 
and  that  they  should  be  not  only  significant,  but  remarkable  as 
events.  In  accordance  with  these  ideas,  I  have  made  out  the 
enclosed  list.  The  artist  who  is  to  model  them  should 
thoroughly  understand  the  meaning  of  each  subject,  so  that  he 
may  fitly  represent  actors  and  events  ;  and  be  gifted  with  an 
elevated  taste,  that  he  may  fitly  compose  them.  Though  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  work  as  I  have  planned  it  will  prove  satis- 
factory in  every  respect,  still  I  should  greatly  like  to  be  near 
the  artist  who  is  to  illustrate  these  Bible  incidents,  that  I 
might  assist  him  to  understand  them  in  all  their  bearings." 

We  are  not  told  whether  Ghiberti  availed  himself  of  Bruni 's 
profi"ered  explanations,  but  we  are  quite  sure  that  in  regard  to 
treatment  he  took  counsel  only  of  himself.     He  tells  us  in  hia 


8o       Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctilptttre. 

second  commentary  that  his  aim  was  to  imitate  nature  **  to  the 
utmost,"  and  that  he  "  studied  her  methods  so  that  he  might  ap- 
proach her  as  nearly  as  possible."  "I  sought,"  he  says,  "to 
understand  how  forms  strike  upon  the  eye,  and  how  the  theo- 
retic part  of  graphic  and  pictorial  art  should  be  managed. 
"Working  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  care,  I  introduced  into 
some  of  my  compositions  as  many  as  a  hundred  fig- 
ures, which  I  modelled  upon  different  planes,  so  that  those 
nearest  the  eye  might  appear  larger,  and  those  more  remote 
smaller  in  proportion."  The  skill  which  Ghiberti  displayed  in 
overcoming  the  almost  superhuman  difficulties  of  his  arduous 
task  can  hardly  be  estimated.  Our  wonder  at  it  increases  when 
we  see  that  some  of  the  panels  contain  compositions  which 
strike  the  eye  at  first  as  units,  and  yet  when  analyzed  are  found 
to  represent  four  successive  stages  of  action — as  for  instance 
the  Creation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  the  Temptation,  and  the  Ex- 
pulsion. 

This  shows  the  most  consummate  knowledge  of  the  art  of 
composition.  It  is  sufficiently  difficult  to  treat  one  subject  with 
many  figures,  and  give  unity  of  effect  to  it  by  inspiring  them 
with  a  common  sentiment,  whose  strongest  expression  is  mani- 
fested in  some  central  point  of  action  about  which  all  turn,  and 
from  which  everything  radiates ;  but  to  treat  four  subjects  in 
one  composition  so  ably,  that  the  four  central  points  of  interest 
shall  not  only  not  conflict,  but  shall  even  apparently  coalesce,  is  a 
feat  which  no  artist  save  Ghiberti  has,  so  far  as  we  know,  ever 
successfully  achieved.  To  show  twelve  or  fourteen  heads  in 
graduated  perspective  upon  an  inclined  plane,  and  yet  keep  each 
person  and  countenance  distinct,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
simulate  aerial  perspective  by  gradual  diminution  of  relief  from 
Alto,  Mezzo,  and  Basso,  to  Stiacciato  the  very  flattest  pos- 
sible.* He  had  also  to  enrich  and  occupy  space  with  land- 
scape and  architectural  backgrounds,  calculated  to  produce 
picturesque  shadows,  and  this  necessitated  the  working  out  of 
these  accessories  so  that  they  should  not  be  unduly  prominent 
over  the  figures,  a  task  of  extreme  difficulty  in  sculpture,  where 
there  is  no  atmosphere  to  keep  objects  in  their  right  places, 
or  difference  of  colour  and  tone  to  give  distance  to  parts.  To  avoid 

*  In  Stiacciato  relief  the  inner  parts  are  little  more  than  drawn,  incised 
or  cut  in  sharply,  with  no  projection  even  on  the  most  prominent  parts. 


Lorenzo  Ghibej'ti.  8i 

Buch  insurmountable  flifficulties,  Greek  sculptors  represented 
multitudes  and  armies  by  a  few  typical  figures,  a  mode  better 
adapted  to  their  bigh  state  of  cultivation  than  such  a  positive 
appeal  to  the  senses  as  Ghiberti  made  to  those  of  his  country- 
men in  the  reliefs  of  his  second  gate. 

The  twenty-four  statuettes  of  prophets  and  Scriptural  person- 
ages in  niches  upon  its  flat  spaces,  are  gems  of  art,  and  the 
heads  of  Prophets  and  Sybils  at  the  angles  of  each  relief  no 
less  so.  Two  other  heads  are  especially  interesting  as  portraits 
of  the  sculptor  and  his  stepfather  Bartoluccio.  To  enjoy 
Ghiberti' s  compositions  fully,  we  must  examine  them  lovingly 
and  carefully  in  every  particular,  for  thus  only  can  we  fitly 
appreciate  the  grace  of  movement,  and  the  expression  of 
wondering  awe  displayed  by  the  groups  of  angels  who  attend 
upon  the  Creator — here  floating  above  His  head  when  He  raises 
Adam  from  the  dust — there  sustaining  the  half-conscious  Eve, 
and  again  bearing  Him  in  a  glory  far  up  into  the  sky  of  bronze, 
where  they  fade  away  as  if  it  were  of  air ;  thus  only  can  we  give 
due  admiration  to  the  beautiful  group  of  Israelitish  women  and 
boys  bearing  away  corn  from  Egypt  to  feed  their  famishing 
countrymen  (see  tailpiece),  or  to  the  single  figure  of  Joshua,  a 
pigmy  in  size,  but  a  giant  in  majesty  of  presence,  standing 
beneath  the  doomed  walls  of  Jericho. 

Five  years  after  the  gates  were  set  up  (1452)  they  were  en- 
riched with  gilding,  now  worn  away  by  time,  as  we  think 
happily,  for,  although  the  effect  may  have  been  gorgeous  to  the 
eye,  the  precious  metal  must  have  interfered  with  that  clearness 
of  outline  so  desirable  in  such  a  complicated  series  of  composi- 
tions. Fit,  as  Michelangelo  said,  to  be  the  gates  of  Paradise  by 
their  exceeding  beauty,  they  are  historically  of  great  interest, 
as  they  represent  the  main  work  of  a  distinguished  artist's 
life,  for  Ghiberti  when  he  began  them  was  forty-six  years 
of  age,  and  when  he  finished  them  he  was  an  old  man  of 
seventy-four.''"  He  could  have  completed  them  much  sooner, 
had  he  not  at  the  same  time  executed  many  commissions  for 
statues,  bas-reliefs  and  goldsmith's  work,  and  also  spent  some 
time  at  Piome,  as  we  know  through  his  enthusiastic  description 
of  a  statue  which  he  saw  there  "  in  the  400th  Olympiad  "  soon 

*  The  gates  were  finished  in  1447,  but  they  were  not  gilded  until  the 
month  of  April,  1452. 

a 


82      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

after  it  had  been  dug  up  in  a  *'  Vigna,"  near  San  Celso.  "  No 
tongue,"  he  says,  "  can  describe  the  learning  and  art  displayed 
in  it,  or  do  justice  to  its  masterly  style."  In  a  similar  strain 
of  enthusiasm,  characteristic  of  the  time,  he  dilates  upon 
another  antique  dug  up  near  Florence,  and  conjectures,  that 
it  *'  was  hidden  away,  in  the  spot  where  it  was  found,  by  some 
gentle  spirit  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  who  seeing  its 
perfection  and  the  marvellous  genius  displayed  in  it,  was  so 
moved  to  pity,  that  he  had  a  tomb  made,  in  which  he  buried  it 
under  a  stone  slab  to  protect  it  from  injury."  "  The  touch  only," 
he  adds,  "  can  discover  many  of  its  beauties,  which  escape  the 
eye  in  any  light."  None  but  a  great  artist  who  had  made 
antique  marbles  the  object  of  close  study,  and  had  quickened  the 
fineness  of  his  touch  by  handling  them  with  enthusiastic  ten- 
derness, could  have  thus  developed  what  may  be  called  a  sixth 
sense.  Opportunities  for  doing  so  were  furnished  him  by  his 
own  collection,  which  contained  many  valuable  antiques,  some 
of  which  had  been  brought  expressly  for  him  from  Greece.  In 
his  statues  Ghiberti  was  by  no  means  so  successful  as  in  his 
bas-reliefs,  where  his  love  of  detail,  richness  of  invention,  and 
knowledge  of  perspective  found  fuller  scope  for  display.  The 
SS.  Mathew,  John  and  Stephen,  which  he  cast  in  bronze  for 
Or  San  Michele,  are  less  attractive  than  the  beautiful  niches 
in  which  they  stand,  though  the  first  is  a  well-draped,  well- 
posed  and  commanding  figure,  and  the  St.  Stephen  is  simple 
and  individual.'''* 

The  two  bronze  bas-reliefs  in  the  panels  of  the  Baptistry 
font  at  Siena,  which  represent  our  Lord's  Baptism  and  St. 
John  brought  before  Herod,  are  examples  of  the  transition 
period  between  our  artist's  first  and  second  manner. f  In  the 
first,  where  he  made  use  (as  in  the  reliefs  of  his  second  gates)  of 
progressively  flattened  relief  to  unite  the  principal  group  with 
the  angels  in  the  background  and  thus  attain  aerial  perspective, 
the  two  women  standing  on  the  shore,  form  an  exquisite  group, 
and  in  their  graceful  attitudes  and  elegantly  disposed  draperies 

*  The  St.  Matthew— finished  in  1422 — was  made  for  the  Guild  of  the 
Cambiatori;  the  St.  John  for  that  of  the  Calirnala  in  1414  ;  and  the  St. 
Stephen  for  the  Arte  della  Lana  between  1419-1422 

t  Ordered  iu  1417,  and  finished  in  1427  (Milanesi,  Doc.  San.  vol.  iu 
pp.  89  ct  seq.) 


Ghiberti  and  Donatello. 


83 


eliow  the  fruit  of  Ghiberti's  loving  study  of  the  antique  (see 
woodcut).  The  second  relief,  which  represents  St.  John  point- 
ing to  heaven  as  he  is  dragged  by  the  soldiers  before  Herod, 
who  sits  aloft  upon  a  curule  chair  absorbed  in  consultation 
with  a  sybilline-looking  woman,  is  remarkably  dramatic  and 
effective. 

The  eight  letters  relating  to  these  bas-reliefs,  which  Ghiberti 
wrote  from  Florence  between  1424  and  1427  explain  his  long 
delay  in  finishing  them.*  In  the  first  he  says  that  the 
pest  had  frightened  away 
all  his  assistants,  and 
obliged  him  to  take  refuge 
at  Venice,  in  the  second 
he  excuses  himself  on  the 
ground  that  he  has  been 
obliged  to  dismiss  his  un- 
grateful workmen,  who 
have  repaid  benefits  by 
injuries,  and  in  the  rest 
he  speaks  of  his  progress, 
of  the  cost  of  gilding  the 
bas-reliefs,  and  announces 
their  completion. f 

Among  Ghiberti's  minor 
works    are    several   grave 
slabs  which  mark  the  rest- 
ing-places of  distinguished 
Florentines  ;   such  as  that 
of  Fra  Leonardi  Stagi  (d. 
1424),  General  of  the  Do- 
minicans (before  the  high  altar  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella),  which  was 
ordered  at  the  public  expense  in  recognition  of  his  important 
diplomatic   services ;    that   of  Ludovico   degli  Obizzi  (at   Sta. 
Croce),  who   was   Captain  of  the  Florentine  troops  under  Carlo 

*  Doeumenti  delV  Arte  Sanesi,  vol.  ii.  pp.  119-125. 

f  The  bas-reliefs  upon  the  Siena  font  are  six  in  number,  of  -whicli  two 
are  by  Tnrino  di  Sano  and  his  son  Giovanni  (ordered  in  1417),  two  by 
Ghiberti,  one  by  Querela,  and  one  by  Donatello.  Yasari  is  mistaken  in 
Baying  that  II  Vecchietta  had  one  of  the  reliefs  assigned  to  him.  (See 
Vasari,  Ed.  Le  Monnier,  vol.  ii.  p.  109,  note  2.) 


On  Font  at  Siena. 


84      Historical  HandbooJz  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Malatesta,  in  the  war  against  Pope  Martin  V.  and  Filippo 
Maria  Visconti  ;*  and  that  in  the  same  church  of  the  upright 
and  patriotic  Gonfaloniere  of  Florence,  Bartolomeo  Valori,  son 
of  that  Nicolo  di  Taldo,  whom  the  people  so  trusted  that  in 
moments  of  danger  they  were  wont  to  say,  "  God  and  Taldo  will 
protect  us."  f 

In  1446  Ghiherti  finished  a  bronze  "  Cassa  "  or  reliquary 
for  the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  to  contain  the  bones  of  St. 
Zenobius,  and  adorned  it  with  a  beautiful  relief  upon  its 
front  representing  the  miraculous  restoration  of  a  dead  child 
to  life  by  the  Saint,  in  the  presence  of  his  widowed  mother 
and  a  crowd  of  spectators.  In  the  centre  lies  the  body,  over 
which  the  spirit  hovers  in  the  likeness  of  a  little  child.  The 
story  is  exquisitely  told,  the  kneeling  figures  are  full  of  feeling, 
the  bystanders  of  sj'mpathy,  and  the  vanishing  lines  of  the  per- 
spective are  managed  with  wonderful  skill,  so  as  to  lead  the  eye 
from  the  principal  group,  through  the  nearer  and  more  distant 
spectators,  to  the  gates  of  the  far-off  city.  Two  other  miracles 
of  the  Saint  are  portrayed  on  the  ends  of  the  "  Cassa,"  and  at 
the  back  there  are  six  angels  in  relief,  sustaining  a  garland, 
within  which  is  an  inscription  commemorative  of  this  holy  and 
learned  man,  who  abjured  Paganism  in  his  early  youth, 
bestowed  his  private  fortune  upon  the  poor,  and  was  made  ono 
of  the  seven  deacons  of  the  church  by  Pope  Damasus.J 

Our  account  of  Ghiherti  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
mention  of  him  as  a  goldsmith,  although  unfortunately  we 
cannot  point  to  tangible  proofs  of  that  consummate  skill,  which 
we  are  warranted  in  believing  him  to  have  had.  Cellini,  who 
was  the  very  best  of  judges,  says  of  him  in  his  Treatise  upon 

*  This  slab  was  dctiigiied  but  not  executed  by  Gbibcrti. 

f  Having  been  a  firm  friend  of  the  deposed  Pope  John  XXIII.,  Bar- 
tolomeo inherited  from  him  a  legacy  of  two  thousand  golden  florins, 
spent  the  last  days  of  his  life  in  the  convent  of  Santa  Croce,  where  he 
studied  the  Scriptures,  and,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  strove  "  to  learn  how 
to  die"  (Litta,  Faninjlie  celehri,  vol.  ii.  Article  "  Yalori  "). 

X  In  1428  Ghiherti  cast  a  small  "  Cassa  "  to  hold  the  relics  of  SS. 
Proteus,  Hyacinthus,  and  Nemesius,  for  the  Monastero  degli  Angeli.  It 
is  now  in  the  Bargello.  The  lid  is  enriched  with  arabesques,  and  tho 
front  is  decorated  with  flying  angels,  like  those  at  the  back  of  tho 
"Cassa"  of  St.  Zanobius,  holding  a  laurel  crown,  within  which  is  an 
inscription. 


Lorenzo  Ghiberti.  85 

the  goldsmith's  art,  "  He  was  truly  a  goldsmith,  whoso 
forte  lay  in  the  art  of  casting  minute  works,  for  although 
he  sometimes  worked  on  a  large  scale,  it  is  evident  that  he  was 
then  less  in  his  element."  In  his  second  commentary, 
Ghiberti  mentions  among  his  chief  works  as  a  goldsmith,  the 
mitre  which  ]  0  made  for  Pope  Martin  V.  ('1419),  soon  after  his 
elevation  to  the  Papacy,  covered  with  leaves  of  gold,  between 
which  were  introduced  many  little  figures  in  the  round,  and  a 
cope  button,  adorned  with  a  figure  of  our  Lord  pronouncing 
the  benediction.  Nearly  twenty-years  later  (1439),  when  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.  presided  over  the  great  council  held  at  Sta. 
Maria  Novella  to  heal  the  schism  between  the  Greek  and 
Latin  churches,  Ghiberti  made  a  second  mitre,  adorned  with 
precious  stones  worth  thirty-eight  thousand  ducats,  enriched 
with  many  exquisite  ornaments,  and  surmounted  by  groups  of 
our  Lord  with  angels,  and  of  the  Virgin  similarly  placed  and 
attended.  With  this  tiara  upon  his  head.  Pope  Eugenius 
eclipsed  not  only  the  Church  dignitaries  over  whom  he  presided, 
but  even  the  Greek  Emperor  John  Paleologus,  "  who  wore  tt 
ruby  larger  than  a  pigeon's  ^gg  "  *  upon  his  pointed  white  hood. 
In  the  same  commentary  Ghiberti  describes  his  setting  an 
antique  intaglio  belonging  to  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  between  the 
open  wings  of  a  golden  dragon,  crouching  with  bent  head  and 
tilightly  raised  neck  in  a  bed  of  ivy  leaves. f 

Much  as  we  know  of  Ghiberti' s  artistic  career,  we  know  very 
little  of  his  personal  character,  and  that  little,  as  displayed  to 
us  in  the  story  of  his  conduct  to  Brunelleschi,  is  unfortunately 
not  to  his  credit.  We  remember  (though  he  would  seem  to 
have  forgotten)  how  generously  the  great  architect  behaved 
when  they  competed  for  the  gate  of  the  Baptistry,  how  much 
assistance  he  gave  him  in  his  work,  and  how  he  taught  him  to 
apply  perspective  to  sculpture,  and  thus  enabled  him  to  perfect 
his  pecular  style.  Despite  these  obligations,  Ghiberti  solicited 
and  obtained  an  appointment  as  joint  architect  with  Brunelleschi 
of  the  Cupola  of  the  Cathedral,  although   he  knew  himself  to 

*  Muratori,  vol.  xix.  p.  982. 

t  Both  mitres  were  probably  despoiled  of  tlieir  jewels  and  melted 
down  by  Cellini  for  Clement  VII.,  1527,  in  tlie  days  of  his  dire  necessity; 
while  the  intaglio,  with  many  other  treasures  of  the  Palazzo  Medici,  may 
have  been  carried  off  by  the  French  after  the  flight  of  Piero  de'  Medici 


86      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpttire, 

be  utterly  unfit  to  act  with  him,  and  during  his  six  years  of  office 
perpetually  endeavoured  to  surj)rise  Brunelleschi's  secrets,  and 
to  make  use  of  the  models  which  he  had  constructed  after  years 
of  thought  and  study.  Seeing  no  other  way  of  getting  rid  of 
him,  Brunelleschi  feigned  illness  and  took  to  his  bed,  with  the 
certainty  that  when  left  to  himself  Ghiberti  would  give  convincing 
proof  of  his  incompetency  and  be  forced  to  resign.  The  expected 
result  soon  followed,  and  Brunelleschi  was  re-instated  as  sole 
architect  of  the  building  for  life,  with  an  increased  salary.  We 
are  loath  to  add,  that  after  being  thus  publicly  put  to  shame, 
Ghiberti  insisted  that  the  monthly  salary,  which  had  been  pro- 
mised him  for  a  further  term  of  three  years,  should  be  paid 
to  his  account.  His  defective  education  as  an  architect  is 
proved  by  his  manuscript  Treatise  on  Architecture,  an  incom- 
plete fragment,  replete  with  false  ostentation,  which  after 
Ghiberti's  death  became  the  property  of  his  grandson,  Buonac- 
corso  di  Vittorio,  who  also  inherited  his  precious  collection  of 
antique  marbles.* 

In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  (1452)  Ghiberti  was  selected  chief 
magistrate  of  Florence,  and  in  acknowledgment  of  his  signal 
merit  and  services  as  an  artist,  was  presented  by  the  Signory 
with  a  farm  near  the  abbey  of  Settimo.  He  died  of  fever  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five,  on  Dec.  1st,  1455,  and  was  buried  in  Sta. 
Croce,  in  a  now  forgotten  spot,  for  Florence  erected  over  it  no 
monument  to  his  memory. 

His  son  Vittorio,  sculptor  and  goldsmith,  who  assisted 
him  in  casting  his  second  bronze  gates,  was  an  artist  of 
distinguished  ability,  who  probably  made  that  very  beautiful 
bronze  altar  in  the  Bargello,  which  has  been  generally 
attributed  to  Desiderio  da  Settignauo.f  Among  his  scholars 
and  assistants  were  Michelozzo,  Lamberti,  Vittorio  Ghiberti, 
and  Antonio  Pollajuolo  who  completed  the  bronze  frieze  of 
leaves,  fruits,  flowers,  and  birds  around  the  Baptistry-gates 
of    Andrea    Pisano.       We    have    already    said    that    Ghiberti 

*  Codice  2,  classe  xvii.  Biblioteca  Magliabecchianu.  Upon  a  loose 
sheet  of  paper  in  the  MS.  Baron  Eamohr  has  summed  up  his  reasons  for 
beheving  in  its  authenticity,  and  given  his  o25inion  of  it  as  corroborating 
Vasari's  concerning  the  incompleteness  of  Ghiberti's  training  as  au 
architect. 

f  Gaye,  o'g.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  108,  note. 


Ghiberti  and  Donatello.  87 

bIiouIcI  be  rather  called  a  goldsmith  and  a  painter,  than  a 
sculptor,  as  he  delighted  in  rich  detail  and  elaborate  ornament, 
excelled  in  modelling  small  figures  suitable  for  work  in  the 
precious  metals,  and  handled  his  chisel  like  a  brush  upon 
marble  or  bronze.  We  must  regard  his  bas-reliefs  as  pictures 
if  we  would  estimate  them  faii'ly,  and  although  it  is  vain  to 
deny  that  in  this  light  they  are  from  their  very  nature  neces- 
sarily incomplete,  their  beauty  entitles  them  to  be  judged  by 
an  exceptional  standard.  Regarded,  however,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  their  effect  upon  others  who,  without  his  genius 
followed  in  his  footsteps,  Ghiberti  must  be  judged  as  an 
innovator  whose  illegitimate  use  of  pictorial  effects  in  sculp- 
ture formed  a  dangerous  precedent.  The  mischief  which  he 
wrought  would  have  been  far  greater  than  it  proved,  had  it  not 
been  for  Donatello,  whose  more  just  perception  of  the  true 
nature  of  sculpture  counterbalanced,  and  to  some  extent  neu- 
tralised the  effect  of  his  example. 

DONATELLO, 

the  greatest  of  Tuscan  sculptors  before  Michelangelo,  was 
the  son  of  Niccolo  di  Betto  Bardi,  a  wool  merchant,  who 
lived  at  Florence  in  the  district  of  S.  Pietra  in  Gattolino  near 
the  Porta  Romana.  His  mother's  name  was  Orsa,  his  sister's 
Tita,  and  his  brother's  Andrea.*  Donato,  as  he  was  baptized, 
though  he  is  generally  known  by  his  pet  name  Donatello,  was 
born  in  1386,  and  early  apprenticed  to  a  goldsmith.f  This 
training,  whose  comprehensive  nature  we  have  already  pointed 
out,  his  early  intimacy  with  Brunelleschi,  and  his  visit  to 
Rome  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  are  the  three  important  facts  con- 
nected with  Donatello's  youth  which  more  than  any  others 
shaped  his  destiny.  Ten  years  his  senior,  Brunelleschi  was 
not  only  his  friend  and  companion  but  also  his  Mentor. 
Of  the  two,  Donatello  had  the  most  artistic  temperament.  He 
was  a  creature  of  impulse,  sensitive  in   the  highest  degree,  full 

*  Semper's  Donatello,  p.  1. 

t  Semper,  o/x  cit.,  p.  6,  says  that  Donatello  probably  learned  tlifl 
goldsmith's  art  from  Cione  di  ser  Buonaccorso,  Ghiberti's  father;  but  ua 
we  are  not  sure  that  Cione  was  a  goldsmith,  and  as  he  must  have  dieu 
when  Donatello  was  a  child,  it  seems  more  reasonable  to  suppose  thpt 
Ghiberti's  step- father  Bartolo  was  Donatello's  master  if  either. 


88      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sailpture. 

of  enthusiasms,  **  the  best  of  companions  and  the  warmest 
of  friends  ; "  while  Brunelleschi,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  intellect,  aird  scientific  rather  than 
aesthetic  tendencies.  They  met  on  the  common  ground  of 
an  enthusiastic  love  of  the  antique,  which  is  illustrated  in 
Brunelleschi's  life  by  the  story  of  his  walk  from  Florence  to 
Cortona,  to  see  an  antique  sarcophagus  of  whose  beauties  he 
had  heard  from  his  friend.  The  candour  of  Donatello's  nature, 
and  his  willingness  to  submit  to  just  criticism,  are  equally 
well  exemplified  by  his  conduct  in  the  case  of  the  Crucifix 
which  he  modelled  and  Brunelleschi  criticised  as  ignoble. 
Challenged  to  do  better,  the  latter  modelled  a  Christ  more  in 
harmony  with  his  ideal,  and  Donatello  on  seeing  it  frankly 
acknowledged  its  superiority  by  exclaiming,  "  Compared  with 
this,  my  Christ  is  but  a  crucified  peasant."  *  The  third  impor- 
tant fact  in  Donatello's  early  life,  his  visit  to  Rome,  was 
determined  by  Brunelleschi's  failure  as  a  competitor  for  the 
Baptistry  gates.  This  decided  him  to  renounce  Sculpture 
as  a  .  profession  for  Architecture,  and  as  he  could  study 
its  principles  nowhere  so  well  as  at  Rome,  he  went  there 
in  1401  with  Donatello  for  his  companion.  At  that  time, 
and  for  the  next  nineteen  years,  until  Pope  Martin  V. 
assumed  the  reins  of  government,  the  Eternal  City  was  in 
a  constant  state  of  disturbance.  Rival  popes  contended  for 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  war  was  waged  with  Ladislaus  King 
of  Naples,  who  seized  the  city  and  expelled  Innocent  VII., 
robbers  and  assassins  infested  the  streets,  and  desolation  sat 
enthroned  upon  the  seven  hills,  which  were  overgrown  with 
rank  vegetation,  overtopped  by  solitary  cloisters  and  churches, 
and  peopled  with  fever- stricken  inhabitants  staggering  under 
the  triple  load  of  war,  pestilence  and  famine.  No  woader 
that  those  who  observed  our  two  Florentines  unceasingly 
wandering  among  the  ruins,  took  them  for  treasure  hunters,  as 
indeed  they  were,  though  for  treasures  of  another  sort  than 
those  which  they  were  supposed  to  be  seeking.  Young,  and 
absorbed  in  their  work,  they  probably  thought  little  of  danger 

*  Donatello's  crucifix  is  at  Santa  Croce,  in  the  Cappella  de'  Bardi. 
That  of  Brunelleschi  at  Sta.  Maria  Novella.  The  crucifix  at  S.  Giorgio 
Maggiore  at  Venice,  has  been  attributed  to  Brunelleschi  as  well  as  to 
Micnelozzo. 


Donatello.  89 

of  any  sort,  and  protected  by  their  apparent  insignificance 
pursued  their  occupation  without  let  or  hindrance.  By 
spending  half  of  each  week  in  doing  goldsmith's  work,  they 
gained  enough  to  live  without  remunerative  labour  during  tho 
other  half,  during  which  time  Bruuelleschi  measured  cornices, 
architraves,  pilasters,  and  columns,  investigated  Roman  laws 
of  proportion,  and  classified  the  orders  of  architecture,  while 
Donatello  made  drawings  of  the  bas-reliefs,  coins  and  gems, 
which  were  turned  up  in  the  course  of  their  joint  excavations, 
or  came  otherwise  under  his  notice. 

In  this  way  the  two  friends  spent  four,  or  perhaps  five,  profit- 
able years,  and  returned  to  Florence  laden  with  the  fruits  of 
their  labour  in  1405  or  early  in  1406,  when  Donatello  was 
twenty  or  twenty-one  years  old,  and  fully  equipped  for  the 
work  which  he  was  to  do  in  life.  Let  us  consider  what  it 
was  to  be,  before  describing  it  in  detail.  Up  to  his 
time,  that  is  throughout  the  middle  ages,  sculpture  being 
limited  to  structural  decoration  through  statues  and  statuettes, 
bas-reliefs  and  ornaments,  was,  in  fact,  what  is  i^roperly 
called  monumental,  or  in  other  words,  strictly,  connected  with 
and  Sjibordinate  to  architecture,  as  it  had  been  in  ancient 
Egypt.  From  this  state  of  dependence  Donatello  partially 
emancipated  it  byL_.severing  the  connection  altogether  as  In 
such  single  statues  as  his  David  and  his  St.  John,  or  by 
giving  the  figures  which  he  sculptured  to  fill  the  niches  of 
some  great  building,  the  self-dependence  and  individuality  of 
bis  St.  George.  Removed  from  the  niche  in  which  it  stands 
and  placed  upon  a  pedestal,  this  statue  would  not  produce  the 
effect  of  a  disjointed  member  of  the  architectural  unit  to 
which  it  really  belongs,  as  it  is  complete  in  itself — the  product 
of  an  independent  art. 

While  Donatello  thus  restored  sculpture  to  the  double  posi- 
tion which  it  had  occupied  in  Greece,  he  also  brought  one  of 
its  branches,  bas-relief,  to  a  pitch  of  perfection  which  it  had 
never  before  attained.  Both  Greek  and  Roman  art  furnish 
admirable  examples  of  high  and  low  relief,  and  the  oldest 
Egyptian  work  about  the  doorways  of  pyramids  and  tombs 
contains  specimens  of  the  flattest  and  most  delicate  relief, 
tut  only  in  the  school  of  Donatello  do  we  see  single  works  in 
which  the  sculptor  ranges  through  the  entire  gamut  of  relief. 


90      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

In  them  the  highest  and  the  lowest  surfaces  may  be  compared 
to  the  extremes  of  light  and  shade  in  a  picture,  which  are 
united  by  delicately  graded  middle  tones.  These  can  only 
be  followed  through  their  subtle  transitions  by  passing  from 
the  extremes  through  the  variations  which  lie  between  them. 
To  attain  perfect  gradation  of  tone  is  comparatively  easy  with 
a  brush,  but  with  a  chisel  it  is  so  difficult  that  it  has  only 
been  successfully  done  by  Donatello  and  his  followers,  whose 
treatment  of  bas-relief  is  so  manifestly  pictorial,  that  it  may 
seem  inconsistent  to  praise  in  their  works  what  we  have 
blamed  in  those  of  Ghiberti.  It  is,  however,  only  necessary  to 
compare  one  of  the  relief-panels  of  his  second  gate,  with  Dona- 
tello's  Christ  in  the  Sepulchre  at  South  Kensington  for  instance, 
to  see  that  the  plastic  character  of  the  latter  is  retained  through 
the  flat  and  simple  treatment  of  its  relief-planes,  while  in  the 
former  all  plastic  character  is  lost,  because  the  figures  in  the 
foreground  are  treated  in  the  round,  and  the  planes  between 
them  and  the  extreme  background  are  curved.  Furthermore, 
Donatello  tells  his  story  on  the  Greek  principle  of  conciseness, 
while  Ghiberti  introduces  a  crowd  of  actors  upon  his  mimic  stage. 
As  in  ornament  applied  to  sculpture  mastery  over  relief  is 
absolutely  essential,  Donatello  who  was  always  moderate  in  his 
use  of  decorative  material,  may,  in  consideration  of  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  he  brought  all  kinds  of  relief,  be  regarded  as  the 
source  of  that  excellence  which  ornament  attained  in  the  later 
Kenaissance.  In  Gothic  architecture  open  work  tracery  is  the 
staple  of  ornament,  while  in  that  of  the  Eenaissance  bas-relief 
takes  its  place.  The  skilful  use  made  of  it  by  Donatello  and  his 
followers  is  such,  that  within  any  range  of  vision  the  design  is 
clear  and  significant.  At  a  distance  the  eye  seizes  the  symme- 
trically disposed  masses,  on  a  nearer  approach  it  separates  them 
into  their  component  parts,  and  on  close  examination  enters  into 
the  consideration  of  surface  treatment  and  minute  detail.  As 
studied  upon  church  portals,  and  the  flat  spaces  of  niches  and 
monuments,  Renaissance  ornament  appears  severely  simple 
in  its  earlier  periods,  but  it  gradually  grows  richer  in  charac- 
ter, and  in  the  latest  period,  when  all  structural  form  disappears 
under  a  bewildering  mass  of  vegetable  and  animal  forms,  liko 
Tarpeia  beneath  the  golden  collars  and  bracelets  of  the  Sabine 
soldiers,  becomes  extravagant  and  confused.     Bucranes,  masks. 


Donatello.  9 1 

garlands  and  children  bearing  fesl.oons,  derived  from  the 
antique,  are  used  in  early  Renaissance  ornainent,  and  the 
child,  which  plays  an  important  part  in  its  decora>tive 
scheme,  is  nowhere  else  treated  with  such  special  charm. 
In  Greek  and  Ronian  ornament  it  stood  for  the  infant 
Bacchus,  for  Eros,  either  as  God  of  Love  or  as  a  funeral 
genius  with  reversed  torch,  or  it  represented  one  of  the 
numberless  genii  who  people  space,  or  was  symbolic  of 
the  soul.  In  Christian  art  it  became  representative  of  the 
Infant  Jesus,  whose  image  was  reproduced  by  every  sculptor 
from  Niccola  Pisano  to  Michelangelo,  and  by  every  painter 
from  Cimabue  to  Raphael ;  but  even  if  this  had  not  recom- 
mended the  child  for  use  as  a  decorative  element,  it  would 
have  been  adopted  for  its  grace  and  naive  beauty,  and  because 
its  unaccentuated  forms  harmonise  so  well  with  the  fresh 
loveliness  of  plants  and  flowers.  In  Donatello's  scheme  of 
ornament,  where  vegetable  forms  have  little  place,  classical 
details,  such  as  bucranes,  masks,  festoons,  and  children  (putti) 
abound,  and  admirably  did  he  use  them,  thanks  to  his  skill 
in  relief  and  his  ability,  as  a  draughtsman.  On  this  latter 
point  we  have  the  testimony  of  Vasari,  who  says  that  he 
drew  on  paper  with  suprising  ease  and  boldness,  and  that  of 
Gauricus  (De  Sculptura),  who  tells  us  that  in  instructing 
his  scholars  he  laid  the  utmost  stress  upon  drawing,  using  the 
word  as  representing  the  essence  of  sculpture.  If  we  were 
asked  to  state  Donatello's  special  excellence,  we  should  say  the 
apprehension  of  character.  For  this  he  had  an  intense  feeling, 
which  he  expressed  with  such  energy  and  in  a  manner  so 
peculiar,  that  his  works  are  not  so  generally  attractive  as  those 
of  many  less  individual  artists.  The  taste  for  them  must 
be  cultivated  with  faith  in  the  result,  and  it  will  be  found 
that  these  thorn-guarded  roses  when  grasped,  are  of  richer 
colour  and  sweeter  perfume  than  other  flowers  which  may  be 
handled  with  impunity.  Realistic  they  are  in  the  nobler 
sense,  that  is  they  are  true  to  nature  without  being  slavish 
copies  of  nature,  like  the  works  of  Denner  and  Seyboldt, 
or  those  of  that  worst  of  all  schools  of  sculpture — the  modern 
Italian.  Between  the  Attic  and  the  Florentine  schools,  which 
as  Mr.  Ruskin  says  are  "  consummate  in  themselves,  the 
origin  of  what  is  best  ia  others,  and  of  equal  rank,   as  essen- 


92       Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpinre. 

tially  original  and  independent,"  there  is  this  difference  which 
makes  the  modern  inferior  to  the  ancient,  namely,  that  while 
the  latter  discriminated  hetweeu  plastic  and  non-plastic  elements 
in  nature,  and  deliberately  discarded  those  which  were  unfit, 
or  unessential,  the  former  dealt  with  the  special  rather  than 
the  generic,  and  represented  the  effect  of  passing  emotion 
upon  the  human  countenance,  often  to  the  verge  of  grimace.  In 
his  haste  to  seize  and  render  all  facts  in  nature,  Douatello  often 
culled  weeds  as  well  as  roses,  and  impelled  by  an  imperious 
necessity  to  give  utterance  to  the  voice  within  him,  yielded  to 
its  pressure  without  reflection.  He,  however,  condoned  these 
defects  by  the  strength  of  his  assertions,  the  tire  of  his  style, 
and  the  transcendent  ease  with  which  his  skilful  hand  traced 
flowing  lines  of  unsurpassed  delicacy  and  freedom  upon  the 
marble.  As  a  first-rate  example  of  his  peculiar  style  we 
may  cite  the  Entombment,  a  bronze  plaque  picked  out  with 
gold,  in  the  Ambras  collection  at  Yienna.*  From  the  little 
child  in  the  foreground  v/ho  turns  frightened  and  crying 
to  his  father,  to  the  old  woman  who  throws  up  her  arms  in 
wild  despair,  all  the  actors  in  the  sad  scene  are  animated  by 
a  common  grief,  which  finds  its  culminating  expression  in  the 
Madonna,  who  taxed  beyond  her  strength,  falls  fainting  into 
the  arms  of  Mary  Magdalen.  Certainly  no  composition  could 
have  greater  unity  of  feeling  than  we  find  here,  and  we  may 
say  that  it  could  hardly  be  more  intensely  expressed,  so 
intensely  indeed,  that  beaut}'  of  line  and  grace  of  attitude  are 
sacrificed  to  it,  but  these  were  matters  of  little  consequence 
to  the  sculptor,  in  comparison  Avith  the  end  which  to  him  was 
all  important,  namely,  realistic  truth.  The  Donatello  who 
had  studied  and  loved  the  antique  shows  himself  in  the 
beautiful  bas-relief  upon  the  sarcophagus,  but  the  men  and 
women  gathered  round  it  with  shrieks  and  gesticulations,  are 
not  Greeks  who  restrain  the  expression  of  their  feelings  within 
artistic  limits,  but  Italians  who  give  natural  vent  to  the 
emotions  which  agitate  their  souls. 

From  this  bas-relief,  which  undoubtedly  belongs  to  a  late 
period  of  Donatello's  career,  let  us  turn  to  his  works  of  an 
earlier  time,  the  Crucifix  at  Sta.  Croce,  the  wooden  statue 
of  the  Magdalen  in  the  Baptistry,  and  the  marble  St.  John 

*  Bea  Appendix,  letter  L 


Donatello.  93 

at  the  Bargello.  "We  have  ah'cady  referred  to  the  first  as  the 
object  of  Brimelleschi's  criticism,  on  the  ground  of  its  ignoble 
realism.  It  is  indeed,  as  Donatello  himself  acknowledged  it  to 
be,  "  a  crucified  peasant,"  the  express  image  of  an  ordinary 
human  being  dying  a  most  painful  death,  without  any  sign 
of  that  triumph  of  the  s^nrit  over  bodily  pangs  which  we  should 
look  for  in  a  representation  of  "  The  Crucified,"  but  as  a 
conception  o-  death  by  crucifixion,  so  far  as  we  can  conceive 
such  a  death,  it  is  wonderfully  true  to  nature,  considering 
that  the  sculptor  can  never  have  witnessed  the  reality.  If, 
as  seems  probable,  this  Crucifix  was  the  work  of  a  boy  under 
twenty  years  of  age,  it  displays  a  knowledge  which  may  fairly 
be  called  miraculous.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  wooden 
Magdalen  at  the  Baptistry,  an  undated  but  certainly  a  very 
early  work,  which  represents  the  effects  of  fastings  and  weep- 
ings upon  the  human  frame.  In  the  wasted  figure,  half 
hidden  under  a  mass  of  dishevelled  locks,  in  the  attenuated 
limbs  which  seem  hardly  able  to  sustain  even  so  frail  a 
burden,  Donatello  realized  his  vivid  conception  of  one  who 
had  long  lived  on  the  coarsest  and  scantiest  of  food,  and 
snatched  rare  and  uneasy  slumbers  stretched  upon  the  hard 
rock.  The  marble  statue  of  St.  John,  in  the  Bargello  museum, 
represents  the  same  theme — famine,  but  in  a  less  repulsive 
light,  inasmuch  as  the  spirit  triumphs  over  the  body.  The 
figure  is  a  gaunt  skeleton,  but  the  face  is  lighted  up  with  a 
w'ild  fanaticism,  and  the  lips  are  half  opened  to  utter  the 
prophetic  message  which  it  is  their  appointed  office  to  deliver. 
As  these  three  works,  the  Crucifix,  the  Magdalen,  and  the  St. 
John  show  no  sign  of  classic  influence  upon  their  author's 
mind,  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  they  were  made  before 
Donatello  went  to  Rome  and  there  came  under  the  spell  of 
antiquity.  An  important  question  is  connected  with  his  return 
to  Florence,  about  which  we  would  say  a  few  Avords.  Was 
it  after  his  return  from  Rome,  or  before  he  went  there,  that  he 
became  an  inmate  of  the  Martelli  palace  ?  We  are  inclined  to 
think  after,  rather  than  before,  despite  Vasari's  statement 
that  he  resided  there  from  his  boyhood  by  the  kind  permission 
of  Ruberto  Martelli,  for  the  following  reason,  that  the  first  so- 
named  member  of  the  family,  was  seventy-three  years  old  when 
Donatello  was  born,  and  the  second,  twenty-two  years  his  junior, 


94      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptttre. 

was  the  friend  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  Pater-Patriae,  the  kiud 
patron  of  Donatello,  Brunelleschi  and  Michelozzo.  It  there- 
fore seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  is  the  Euberto 
designated  by  Vasari  as  the  patron  of  Donatello,  who  perhaps 
did  not  go  to  live  at  the  Palazzo  Martelli  until  after  the  death 
of  his  mother  (1427). 

Among  the  earliest  works  of  Donatello  after  his  return 
to  Florence  were  two  marble  figures  of  Prophets  for  the  second 
northern  portal  of  the  Cathedral  (November  23,  1406),  which 
may  still  be  seen  on  either  side  of  its  gable,  and  a  bas-relief 
in  sandstone  of  the  Annunciation,  for  the  Cavalcanti  chapel 
at  Sta.  Croce.  This  latter  work  was  executed  for  Bernardo 
Cavalcanti,  one  of  the  three  commissioners  who  represented 
the  Republic  on  the  entrance  of  the  Florentine  army  into 
Pisa,  which  event  it  was  intended  to  memorialize.  The 
Virgin  rising  from  her  seat,  shrinks  modestly  before  the  angel, 
who  kneels  before  her  in  a  graceful  posture.  The  recess  in 
which  these  figures  are  placed,  with  its  pannelled  background 
and  chair  of  antique  design,  is  formed  into  a  sort  of  chamber 
by  pilasters,  with  capitals  composed  of  two  masks,  a  rich 
entablature  covered  with  classic  ornaments,  and  a  base  decorated 
with  a  winged  wreath. 

As  it  would  be  impossible  in  a  general  history  like  the  present 
to  describe,  or  even  enumerate,  all  the  works  of  so  prolific  an 
artist  as  Donatello,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  speaking  of 
some  of  the  most  important,  grouped  together  without  regUrd 
to  chronological  sequence,  Avhen  as  is  the  case  with  the 
statues  of  SS.  Peter,  Mark,  and  George,  they  belong  to  the 
same  building. 

The  first  of  these  was  ordered  by  the  guild  of  the  butchers 
in  1408;  the  second  by  that  of  the  linendrapers  in  1411,  and 
the  third  by  that  of  the  armourers,  about  1416.  Saints  Peter 
and  Mark  are  well  draped  and  carefully  modelled  figures,  whose 
extremities,  and  especially  the  hands,  are  treated  with  elegance. 
Michelangelo  bore  testimony  to  the  earnest  character  of  the 
latter,  by  the  rather  negative  praise  that  **  no  one  could  refuse 
to  believe  the  gospel  when  preached  by  such  an  honest  looking 
man,"  but  if  he  said  anything,  or  did  we  know  what  he  said, 
about  the  St.  George,  we  should  doubtless  find  in  his  words  a 
warmer  glow  of  feeling,  as  it  is  remarkable  for  qualities  which 


Donatello,  95 

he  could  not  have  failed  to  appreciate.  These  qualities  are  well 
summed  up  in  these  words  of  Vasari :  "The  figure  of  St.  George 
is  armed  and  full  of  life.  The  beauty  of  youth  is  in  the  face, 
resolution  and  courage  in  the  weapons ;  a  terrible  vivacity  and 
living  action  permeates  the  marble."  The  saint,  who  stands  with 
erect  head  and  piercing  glance,  as  if  about  to  turn  upon  a  deadly 
enemy,  v.-ith  one  hand  resting  on  the  top  of  an  oblong  shield, 
and  the  other  hanging  straight  at  his  side,  shows  that  cool  re- 
solve which  ensures  triumph  in  every  line  of  his  figure  and  in 
every  part  of  his  limbs.  Even  the  slightly  compressed  fingers 
of  the  right  hand  express  a  dominant  thought.  The  base  of 
the  beautiful  Gothic  niche  is  adorned  with  a  bas-relief  of  the 
fight  between  St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  in  which  Cleodolinda, 
tvho  watches  its  issue,  is  draped  with  antique  elegance,  and  the 
architectual  and  landscape  accessories  are  treated  with  masterly 
freedom.  As  a  treatment  of  the  subject,  this  relief  is  in 
sculpture  what  Tintoretto's  picture  at  the  National  Gallery  is 
in  painting — unsurpassed  and  unsurpassable. 

Donatello  was  assisted  by  the  distinguished  Florentine 
architect  Michelozzo  Michelozzi  in  three  of  his  most  important 
works,  namely,  the  tomb  of  Pope  John  XXIII.  for  the  Baptistry 
at  Florence  (1426),  that  of  Cardinal  Brancacci  for  the  church 
of  S.  Angelo  a  Nilo  at  Naples  (1427),  and  that  of  Bartolomeo 
Aragazzi,  for  the  parish  church  of  Montepulciano  (1427-29). 
The  first  is  historically  interesting  as  the  last  resting-place 
of  the  anti-pope  who  was  deposed  by  the  Council  of  Constance, 
imprisoned  at  Heidelberg,  and  pardoned  by  Pope  Martin  V., 
by  whose  election  the  council  put  an  end  to  the  schism 
which  had  long  divided  the  Church.*  He  died  at  Florence  in 
1419,  leaving  twenty  thousand  florins,  of  which  one  thousand 
were  spent  by  his  executors  upon  his  tomb,  which  consists  of  a 
naturalistic  and  un flattered  sepulchral  efiigy  lying  upon  a  couch 
of  gilded  bronze,  under  a  lunette  containing  a  bas-relief  of 
the  Madonna  and   Child  with  angels.     Three  niches  upon  its 

*  Giovanni  di  Bicci  de'  Medici  (father  of  Cosmo),  had  gained  immense 
sums  by  banking  operations  during  the  Council  of  Constance,  when  he 
lent  money  to  the  Pope ;  from  this,  perhaps,  arose  the  story,  that  Pope 
John,  in  gratitude  for  his  deliverance  from  prison,  which,  according  to 
one  account  had  been  brought  about  by  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  left  him  heir 
to  an  immense  fortune.  His  will,  however,  proves  that  he  made  no  such 
bequest  (Cantu,  St.  degV  Italiani,  voL  ii.  p.  967). 


96      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

base  are  filled  with  statuettes  of  Hope  and  Charity  by  Dona- 
tello,  and  of  Faith  by  Michelozzo.  The  epithet  "  quondam 
Papa "  in  the  inscription  so  offended  Martin  V.,  that  he 
demanded  its  removal,  but  the  Chief  magistrate  refused,  saying 
*'  quod  scripsi,  scripsi." 

Hardly  had  our  two  sculptors  finished  this  tomb  when  they 
began  to  work  upon  that  of  Cardinal  Brancacci,*  the  compatriot 
and  warm  partizan  of  Pope  John,  who  was  crowned  by  him  at 
Bologna,  and  whom  he  served  as  vicar  and  legate  at  Naples, 
where  many  years  before  his  death,  which  took  place  at  Piome 
at  an  advanced  age,  he  founded  the  hospital  and  church  of  St. 
Angelo  a  Nilo,t  in  which  he  lies  buried.  His  monument  stands 
within  an  arched  recess,  from  the  top  of  which  falls  a  heavy 
curtain,  held  back  by  two  mourning  genii,  who  look  sadly  down 
upon  his  sepulchral  effigy.  It  lies  upon  a  sarcophagus  sup- 
ported upcu  three  full  length  female  figures,  which  has  a 
relief  of  the  Madonna  enthroned  and  surrounded  by  angels 
sculptured  upon  its  front  in  that  delicate  sort  of  relief  called 
Stiacciato,  which  though  scarcely  raised  above  the  surface, 
varies  by  almost  imperceptible  gradations,  and  ajjpears  drawn 
rather  than  chiselled  upon  the  marble.  The  great  medallists  of 
this  period,  Pisanello,  Matteo  de'  Pasti,  and  Sperandio,  managed 
it  with  the  utmost  skill  in  little,  but  Donatello  alone  attempted 
it  on  a  large  scale.  Other  Eenaissance  tombs  in  Italy  are 
more  refined  in  detail,  and  more  elegant  in  design  than  this, 
but  none  perhaps  at  once  so  impressive  and  affecting.l 

While  working  on  it  at  Pisa,  Donatello  and  Michelozzo 
were  commissioned  by  Bartolomeo  Aragazzi,  the  learned  secre- 
tary of  Pope  Martin  V.,  to  sculpture  his  own  monument  for  the 
parish  church  of  Montepulciano,  upon  which  extraordinary  piece 
of    vainglory   Lionardo   Bruni  thus   comments  in  one  of   his 

*  "Like  Saul,  his  stature  was  greater  than  that  of  most  men,  and 
as  his  noble  and  great  mind  fully  corresponded  to  his  physical  develop- 
ment, he  was  highly  esteemed  among  the  cardinals  of  the  time  "  (Cardella, 
Memorie  del  Canlinali,  vol.  ii.  p.  304). 

t  Founded  in  1385.  The  cardinal  died  in  1427.  (Napoli,  Guida  derjli 
Scien'/Aati,  vol.  i.  p.  385.) 

X  This  monument  was  commissioned  by  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  the 
cardinal's  executor.  Donatello  tells  us  in  a  letter  (published  by  Gaye^, 
that  he  was  to  be  paid  850  florins,  including  the  expense  of  its  transpor- 
tation from  Pisa  (where  it  was  made)  to  Naples. 


Ghiberti  and  Donate llo.  97 

letters.  **  Who  that  trusted  in  bis  own  fame  ever  thought  of 
erecting  a  monument  to  himself?  *  Not  Ca3sar,  nor  Alexander, 
nor  Cyrus  who  ordered  that  his  body  should  be  buried  in  the 
earth  since  no  more  noble  place  for  its  reception  could  be 
found  than  that  which  produced  flowers,  fruits,  and  gems." 
In  the  same  letter  Bruni  tells  us  that  while  on  a  journey  in 
the  district  of  Arezzo,  he  overtook  the  carts  on  which  the 
Aragazzi  monument  was  being  conveyed  to  Montepulciano. 
The  heavily  laden  team  had  stuck  fast  in  the  mud,  and  its 
driver  seeing  that  the  efforts  of  his  panting  oxen  availed  not 
to  extricate  it,  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in  a  more  than 
muttered  wish  that  the  gods  would  damn  all  poets  past  and 
future.  The  wish  was  in  some  measure  gratified  long  after 
the  poet's  monument  had  been  set  up  in  its  destined  place, 
for  when  the  church  was  rebuilt  it  was  taken  down  and 
partially  destroyed.  Some  fragments  saved  from  its  ruins 
were  afterwards  placed  in  different  parts  of  the  building, 
such  as  the  sepulchral  effigy,  an  alto-relievo  of  God  the 
Father  in  the  act  of  blessing,  a  part  of  the  base,  now  incor- 
porated in  the  high  altar,  statues  of  Faith  and  Fortitude,  and 
two  bas-reliefs  of  exceeding  beauty,  in  Donatello's  very  best 
style,  f  One  of  them  represents  the  Madonna  with  the  infant 
Christ,  who,  looking  smilingly  down  upon  the  kneeling  donor, 
rests  his  foot  upon  the  shoulder  of  one  of  the  three  children 
who  kneel  before  him.  Four  persons,  doubtless  members  of 
the  Aragazzi  family,  stand  near  the  throne  on  which  sits  the 
Madonna,  behind  whose  head  two  little  angels  hold  a  garland. 
The  composition  is  admirable,  the  treatment  of  surface  masterly, 
the  children  are  winning  and  graceful,  and  the  Infant  Saviour  is 
full  of  tenderness  and  charm.  The  other  relief  represents 
Aragazzi  and  the  three  children,  together  with  an  old  woman 
whom  he  takes  by  the  hand  while  he  gives  the  other  to  a  youth 
who  is  accompanied  by  a  monk.  These  subjects  evidently 
represent  incidents  in  Ai-agazzi's  life  of  which  no  account  has 
been  preserved. 

The  reader  will  perhaps  remember  that  Jacopo  della  Querela 

*  L.  Bruni  (i?^j.  v.  vol.  ii.  lib.  vi.  p.  45).  The  Eomans  often  did  so,  as 
the  letters  V.  F.,  "  vivus  fecit,"  and  V.  S.  P.,  "  vivus  sibi  posuit,"  in 
inscriptions  show. 

f  See  page  110. 

n 


98      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidptitre 

received  a  commission  which  he  never  executed  for  a  bronze  has- 
relief  of  the  Feast  of  Herod  to  decorate  the  Font  in  the  Baptistry 
of  Siena,  and  that  in  1427  it  was  given  to  Donatello,  who  modelled 
the  highly  dramatic  relief  of  this  subject  which  now  fills  one 
of  its  panels.*  Sitting  at  a  table  with  guests,  whose  gestures 
betoken  their  sympathy  with  his  feelings,  Herod  shrinks  back 
with  horror  from  the  head  of  St.  John,  which  a  kneeling  soldier 
offers  to  him.  Behind  them  rise  the  prison  walls,  resting 
upon  arches,  through  one  of  which  the  gaoler  is  seen  in  the  act 
of  consigning  the  Saint's  head  to  an  attendant.  Technically 
speaking,  the  surface  is  treated  in  a  series  of  flat  planes  of 
graduated  thickness  with  the  sculptor's  accustomed  skill. f 

Vasari  tells  us  that  Donatello  was  called  to  Rome  early  in 
the  year  1433  to  consult  with  his  apocryphal  brother  SimoneJ 
about  the  grave  slab  of  Pope  Martin  V.,§  then  about  to  be 
cast  in  bronze  for  the  Basilica  of  the  Lateran,  and  that  hap- 
pening to  arrive  there  shortly  before  the  coronation  of  the 
Emperor  Sigismund,  he  co-operated  with  Simone  in  planning 
the  decorations  of  the  city  for  that  occasion,  which  were  on  a 
scale  of  great  magnificence.  As  this  was  the  year  of  Cosmo 
de'  Medici's  exile,  Donatello  probably  remained  at  Rome  until 
his  'friend  and  patron  had  been  brought  back  in  triumph  to 
Jfiorence. 

*  J.  0.  EoLinson  mentions  a  relief  of  the  same  subject  in  the  Musee 
Wicar  at  Lille.  It  is  in  very  flat  relief,  like  the  Charge  to  Peter  in  the 
Kensington  Museum,  No.  7,629.  The  grave  slab  of  Giovanni  Pecci, 
bishop  of  Grossetto,  which  was  cast  by  Donatello  about  1427,  is  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Siena,  before  the  chapel  of  San  Ansano. 

t  Finished  before  Oct.  8th,  1437. 

X  The  inventory  of  Donatello's  property,  published  by  Gaye  in  the 
Carteggio,  settles  the  fact  that  Donatello  never  had  a  brother  of  this 
name.  The  Simone  referred  to  by  Vasari  was  either  Simone  di  Giovanni 
Ghini,  a  Florentine  goldsmith,  born  in  1407,  who  after  1427  was  employed 
at  Rome  by  Popes  Eugenius  IV.,  Nicholas  V.,  Pius  II ,  Paul  II.,  and 
Sixtus  IV.  (see  Les  Arts  a  la  Cour  cles  Papes,  by  M.  Eugene  Miintz, 
p.  56),  or  Simone  di  Nanni  Fcrrucci,  of  Fiesole,  father  of  the  sculptor 
Francesco  Ferrucci.  Of  the  works  attributed  to  Simone  by  Vasari, 
Milanesi  (ed.  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  459,  note  1),  thinks  those  in  bronze  are 
probably  by  Ghini,  and  those  in  marble  by  Ferrucci. 

§  M.  Miintz  {op.  cit.)  says,  a  modern  inscrij^tion  published  by  M.  de 
Reumont  {Gesch.  der  Stadt  Bom,  vol.  iii.  p.  526),  shows  that  the  grave 
Blab  of  Martin  V.  was  cast  in  1443. 


Ghiberti  and  Donatdlo.  99 

The  friendly  relations   maintained    between    this    merchant 
prince  and  the  great  artists  of  his   time  were  especially  useful 
to  him  in  Donatello's  case,  as  his  advice  was  needed  in  selecting 
works  of  art  for  the  Medici  collections,  and  his  skill  in  restoring 
such  mutilated  antiques  as  came  into  Cosmo's  possession.  From 
him  Donatello   received   commissions  for  medallion   copies  of 
eight  antique  gems  to  he  set  up   in  the   cortile  of  the  Medici 
Palace,  and   for  a  charming  bronze    statue   of  David,  now  in 
the  Bargello  Museum,  which  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of  the 
way  in  which  an  artist  of  original  genius  can  be  influenced  by 
the  antique,  and  yet  preserve    his  individuality  intact.      When 
Donatello  modelled  it  he  must  have  come   straight  from   the 
Medici  Palace,  where  Greek  gems  and  statues  had  flashed  some- 
thing  of   their    spirit    into    his    brain.       The   broad-brimmed 
shepherd's  hat  which   overshadows    features  of    an   unusually 
classical  type,  recalls  the  Petasos  of  Hermes ;  the  bodily  forms 
give     evidence  of    an    attempt   to  idealize  through    selection, 
and    the   body   is   nude,  as   befits  a  statue    conceived   in  an 
antique    spirit.      With  a  stone  from  the  brook   in  the    hand 
which  rests  upon  his  hip,  and  with  the  great  sword  with  which 
he  has  cut  off  the  head  of  his  giant  enemy  in  the  other,  the 
Jewish  shepherd  boy  modestly  waits  to  receive  the  guerdon  of 
praise  and  gratitude  from  those  whom  he  has   saved.     Unlike 
his  St.  George,  who  stands  firmly  resting  equally  upon  both  feet 
like  a  statue  of  Polyclete,  Donatello's  David  is  Praxitelean  in 
outline,  for  the  weight  of  the  body  is  thrown  upon  the  right  leg, 
and  the  pose  is  relaxed  and  graceful.     As  this  statue  is  classical 
in  spirit,  so  are  its  accessories.     Nothing  indeed  could  be  more 
so  than  the  little  bas-relief,  upon  the  side  of  Goliath's  hel- 
met, of  children  dragging  a  triumphal  car,  excepting  perhaps 
another  bronze  relief  by  Donatello  at  the  Bargello,  which  repre- 
sents Bacchus  in  triumph  stretched  upon  a  car  and  holding  a 
little  satyr  above  his  head,  while  one  "  amorino  "  pushes  it,  two 
of  his    brethren   sit  upon  the   pole,  two    drag   it,   and  twelve 
with   clashing  cymbals  and   trailing  bunches  of  grapes,   bring 
up  the  rear  with  dance  and  song.     Sometimes,  as  in  the  bronze 
patera  or  mirror   from  the   Martelli  Palace  in  the  Kensington 
Museum,  Donatello  worked  so  completely  in  the  spirit  of  the 
antique  that  we  are  in  doubt  whether  the  work  is  original  or  a 
copy  from  some  ancient  gem.     The  Silenus  and  the  Bacchante, 

H   2 


lOO    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptttre.- 

the  mask,  the  tablet  with  its  Latin  inscription,  the  rhyton,  the 
thyrsus,  the  trophies,  the  terminal  figure,  the  damascene  work 
and  the  foliated  ornaments  in  gold  and  silver,  are  worthy  of  the 
antique,  and  in  point  of  workmanship  challenge  comparison 
with  bronzes  of  any  period. 

*  The  leading  characteristics  of  Donatello  as  a  sculptor  have  been 
pointed  out  in  the  foregoing  pages,  with  the  important  exception 
of  his  singular  ability  in  determining  the  finish  and  general 
treatment  necessary  to  give  a  statue  the  best  effect  with  regard 
to  its  greater  or  less  distance  from  the  eye.  This  requires  great 
judgment,  and  long  experience.  A  highly  finished  work  may- 
be regarded  as  a  masterpiece  in  the  studio,  and  become  an 
absolute  failure  when  raised  to  a  height  of  thirty  or  more  feet 
in  the  air,  or  vice  versa,  as  Phidias  proved  in  his  contest  with 
Alcamenes,  and  as  Donatello  proved  by  a  statue  of  David,  known 
from  its  bald  head  as  II  Zuccoue,  which  he  made  for  a  niche 
in  the  third  story  of  the  Campanile  at  Florence.*  Treated 
Avith  the  utmost  breadth  of  form  and  drapery,  it  was  all  but 
incomprehensible  to  those  who  saw  it  in  Donatello's  studio, 
though  when  it  was  set  in  its  appointed  place  it  won  universal 
admiration.  The  bas-reliefs  of  singing  and  dancing  boys  at  the 
Bargello,  which  Donatello  sculptured  for  an  organ  balustrade 
in  the  Cathedral,  form  another  instance  in  point.  As  seen  in 
their  present  position  they  sufier  greatly  from  j)roximity  to  the 
spectator,  while  those  by  Luca  della  Eobbia  in  the  same 
museum,  which  were  made  for  a  companion  balustrade,  gain 
proportionately,  but  if  both  were  raised  to  the  height  at  which 
they  were  intended  to  be  seen,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to 
which  would  produce  the  best  effect. 

The  beautiful  bas-reliefs  of  dancing  children  upon  the  pulpit 
outside  the  Cathedral  at  Prato  (1434)  may  be  cited  as  another 
instance  of  Donatello's  skilful  adaptation  of  technic  to  locality. 
Here  he  had  to  make  a  complicated  series  of  figures  on  dif- 
ferent planes,  to  be  seen  at  a  considerable  distance,  and  this 

*  Of  the  four  statues  in  niches  in  this  storey  of  the  Campanile,  three 
are  by  Donatello,  namely  David,  Jeremiah,  and  St.  John  the  Baptist. 
The  fourth  is  by  Giovanni  di  Bartolo,  called  Eosso,  who  made  the 
Brcnzoni  monument  in  S.  Fermo  Maggiore  at  Verona,  and  perhaps  the 
sculptures  of  the  great  portal  of  S.  Niccolo  at  Tolentino  in  1431. 
(Milanesi,  ed.  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  ]).  404,  note  2.) 


Donatello. 


lOI 


he  accomplislied  by  cutting  the  outlines  of  those  in  the  fore- 
ground so  sharply  that  they  throw  clear  shadows,  which  failing 
upon  the  figures  in  flatter  relief  separate  the  two,  so  that  the 
eye  can  follow  every  sinuous  line  with  ease,  and  yet  find  no 
confusion  to  mar  its  delight.  To  protect  the  relief-surfacea 
from  possible  injury,  their  level  is  kept  below  that  of  the  cor- 
nice and  pilasters  of  the  pulpit,  which  being  set  against  an 
angle  of  the  building,  projects  from  the  wall  into  the  piazza. 
Where,  as  in  his  group  of  Judith  and  Holofernes  at  Florence,'* 
Donatello,  applying  the  same  principle  to  figures  in  the  round, 


kept  their  extremities  within  their  bounding  lines,  a  certain 
stiffness  and  want  of  ease  strikes  us,  as  if  he  had  been  fettered 
by  the  attempt.  This  may,  however,  be  partially  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  endeavour  to  group  figures  of  large 
size  was  new  to  him.  So  far  as  we  know  he  never  repeated 
it,  feeling,  doubtless,  that  his  strength  lay  elsewhere,  and 
choosing  wisely  to  do  that  which  he  could  do  best.     In  that 


*  In  the  Loggia  de'  Lanzi  since  1504.  After  the  expulsion  of  Piero  de* 
Medici,  it  was  taken  from  the  Palazzo  de'  Medici  to  the  Ringhiera  of  the 
Palazzo  Vecchio,  and  set  up  with  the  inscription,  "  Exemplum  sal.  pub. 
nves  ponere,  1495,"  as  a  warning  to  tj'rants. 


I02    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpttire, 

best  we  should  certainly  include  the  statue  and  bust  of  St. 
John  at  the  Martelli  Palace  ;  a  profile  head  of  St.  Cecilia  in 
*'  pietra  serena  "  which  worthily  embodies  Dante's  description 
of  Beatrice  "walking  clothed  in  humility  amidst  the  hum  of 
praise  ;"  and  an  exquisite  profile  bust  of  the  youthful  St.  John 
in  the  Bargello  Museum,  in  which  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  most  to  admire,  the  modelling  of  the  cheek  and  jaw,  the 
expression  of  the  half-open  mouth,  or  the  treatment  of  the 
hair,  whose  wayward  growth  and  silken  texturo_  are  rendered 
with  unsurpassed  truth  and  skill. 

We  would  gladly  linger  over  this  and  many  other  marbles 
and  bronzes  by  Donatello,  did  not  want  of  space  oblige  us  to 
proceed  with  the  story  of  his  life.*  In  one  respect  he  presents 
a  striking  contrast  to  many  celebrated  artists,  and  this  is  in  the 
extreme  conscientiousness  which  he  exhibited  regarding  the 
fulfilment  of  accepted  engagements.  To  this  rule  we  know  of 
but  one  exception,  his  failure  to  cast  the  bronze  statue  of 
Borso  d'Este,  Duke  of  Fcrrara,  for  which  he  signed  a  contract 
in  the  year  1444,  binding  himself  to  complete  it  within  a  year. 
In  the  meanwhile  he  had  established  himself  at  Padua,  and 
was  busily  engaged  upon  an  equestrian  statue  of  the  famous 
Condottiore,  Erasmo  da  Narni,  called  Gattamelata,  captain  of 
the  Venetian  forces,  who  had  recently  died  (Jan.  16th,  1443), 
for  which,  as  late  researches  have  shown,  he  had  received  the 
commission  from  Giovanni  Antonio,  the  son  of  this  great 
soldier,  and  not  from  the  Venetian  Signory,  as  has  been 
always  supposed. f  We  can  hardly  appreciate  the  difficulties 
which   the  execution  of  this  commission  offered,  if  we  fail  to 

*  We  give  a  list  of  some  of  Donatello's  works  not  mentioned  ia  the 
text.  (1.)  Female  profile  head  in  marble,  probably  identical  with  that  of 
the  Valori  collection,  mentioned  in  Bocchi's  "  Bellezze  di  Firenze."  (2.) 
Christ  and  angels;  the  delivery  of  the  keys  to  St.  Peter;  a  Madonna  and 
Child  (marble);  an  Entombment  (bronze);  Female  Saint  and  Sarco- 
phagus (marble) ;  S.  Kensington  Museum.  (3.)  St.  Sebastian  (bronze 
relief),  M.  Ed.  Andre.  (4)  The  Mazzocco  at  Florence  (marble).  (5.) 
Madonna  and  Child  (very  flat  relief) ;  Heads  of  the  Saviour  and  St.  John 
(f.  r.) ;  M.  Dreyfus.  (5.)  The  Flagellation  and  other  bronzes,  given  by 
M.  His  de  la  Salle  to  the  Musee  de  la  Renaissance  at  the  Louvre.  (6.) 
St.  John,  a  bronze  statue  (Cathedral  at  Siena).  (7.)  Madonna  and  Child, 
in  Eoyal  Gallery  at  Turin. 

t  (See  a  document  dated  June  29th,  1453.  Arcli.  St.  It.,  vol.  ii.  1st  part, 
pp.  47-61. 


Do7iatello.  1 03 

m 

consider  that  when  Donatello  undertook  it  he  had  not  only 
never  modelled  a  horse,  nor  paid  any  special  attention  to  equine 
anatomy,  but  that  he  had  probably  never  seen  an  equestrian 
grouj)  in  his  life,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Marcus 
Aurelius  at  Eome,*  and  the  alto-relief  of  the  Podesta  Oldrado 
di  Tresseno  at  Milan. f  Equestrian  statues  of  Tommaso  and 
Bonifazio  degli  Obizzi  were  erected  at  Lucca  in  the  early  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  of  whose  character  no  record  remains, 
but  the  period  to  which  they  belong  warrants  us  in  supposing 
that  even  if  they  did  come  within  the  range  of  Donatello's 
observation  he  could  hive  derived  little  benefit  or  suggestion 
from  them.  Depending  upon  himself,  and  possibly  carrying  in 
his  mind  a  more  or  less  distinct  recollection  of  one  of  the  bronze 
horses  over  the  portal  of  St.  Mark's  at  Venice,  he  constructed 
the  great  wooden  model  of  a  horse  still  preserved  in  the  large 
Hall  of  the  Palazzo  della  Eagione  at  Padua,  which,  covered 
with  skins,  and  bearing  a  gigantic  Jupiter  on  its  back,  after- 
wards figured  at  some  public  games  given  at  Padua  by  Count 
Capodalista,  and  was  praised  in  verse  by  the  poet  Lazzarelli  as 
superior  to  any  work  of  Daedalus,  Phidias,  or  Praxiteles. 

In  due  time  the  group  was  cast  and  set  up  on  its  pedestal 
under  the  walls  of  San  Antonio.  Clad  in  armour,  saving  the 
head,  holding  a  baton  in  his  left  hand  and  with  the  reins 
gathered  in  his  right,  the  rider  sits  somewhat  stiffly  on  the  back 
of  a  ponderous  war  horse,  which  seems  hardl}'  less  a  portrait 
than  the  man,  and  shows  the  closest  study  of  nature  in  all  but 
one  particular,  namely,  that  he  moves  by  lifting  his  two  right 
legs  simultaneously  from  the  ground  [see  woodcut,  p.  101). 
This  error,  common  to  other  sculptors,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  may  surprise  us  in  the  work  of  so  careful  an  observer 
as  Donatello,  but  it  is  quickly  lost  sight  of  when,  after  taking 
in  the  group  as  a  whole,  we  examine  it  more  closely,  and 
rejoice  in  the  beauty  of  its  details.  One  of  the  charming 
"  putti  "  from  the  richly  decorated  saddle,  one  square  inch  of 
the  horse's  trappings,  would  furnish  matter  for  a  discourse,  and 
make  the  reputation  of  a  collection.     "While  our  admiration  for 

*  Discovered  in  the  Forum  in  1187;  raised  on  the  piazza  of  the  Lateran 
in  1471,  and  afterwards  removed  by  Michelangelo  to  the  Cauipidoglio. 
f  Bee  Introduction,  p.  xvil 


104     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sc7ilptttre, 

the  sculptor's  merits  as  a  bronze  caster  is  excited  outside 
tlie  portals  of  San  Antonio  by  this  equestrian  group,  it  is 
raised  still  higher  when  we  have  passed  through  them,  by  the 
admirable  bronzes  which  are  scattered  about  the  church.  They 
were  begun  for  the  High  Altar  about  1444,  and  completed  in 
five  or  six  years,  with  the  assistance  of  Francesco  del  Vag- 
liante  of  Florence  and  Antonio  Cliellini  of  Pisa,  goldsmiths, 
and  Giovanni  da  Pisa,*  and  Urbano  da  Cortona,t  sculptors. 
The  bas-reliefs  of  the  predella,  a  dead  Christ  with  angels,  two 
miracles  of  St.  Anthony,  and  four  angels,  are  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Holy  Sacrament ;  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  under  the 
singing  galleries  of  the  presbytery ;  an  Ecce  Homo,  and  the 
reliefs  of  St.  Anthony  discovering  the  heart  of  a  miser  in  his 
money  chest,  and  of  the  healing  of  a  youth  who  had  cut  off 
his  foot,  are  upon  the  parapet  of  the  High  Altar,  whose  sides  are 
enriched  with  two  angels  and  various  ornaments.  Lastly,  there 
are  four  statues  of  the  patron  saints  of  Padua,  with  a  group  of 
the  Madonna  and  Child  and  a  bronze  Crucifix,  in  the  choir.  In 
all  these  admirable  works  Donatello's  matchless  skill  in  bas- 
relief,  his  superior  ability  in  the  round,  his  knowledge  of  the 
processes  of  bronze  casting,  his  conscientiousness  in  the  high 
finish  of  metal- surface,  and  the  exquisite  charm  with  which  he 
invested  his  child-angels,  are  conspicuously  displayed.  No 
wonder  that  they  won  for  the  sculptor  such  high  encomiums 
from  the  Paduans,  that  he  modestly  declared  it  to  be  time  for 
him  to  return  to  the  more  critical  atmosphere  of  Florence,  lest 
his  head  should  be  turned,  though  considering  the  very  great 
benefits  which  the  Paduans  had  derived  from  his  visit,  they 
can  hardly  have  lavished  too  much  praise  vc^ow  him  and  his 
works.  His  Paduan  pupils,  Bartolomeo  Vellano  and  Andrea 
Briosco,  propagated  his  school  in  the  north  of  Italy,  and  many 
of  the  young  painters  who  frequented  the  Art  School  opened 
by  Squarcioue  at  Padua  were  his  debtors,  while  the  works  of 
the  greatest  among  them,  Andrea  Mantegna,  suflice  to  show 
that  the  Florentine  master  had  not  visited  their  city  in  vain. 

*  This  artist  made  the  terra-cotta  relief  of  the  Madonna  and  Child, 
with  three  saints,  in  the  church  of  the  Eremitani  at  Padua.  See 
I'Anonimo  (Morelli)  and  Milanesi's  ed.  of  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  note  1,  p.  424;. 

t  Mentioned  by  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol,  v.  p.  107;  not  otherwise  known. 


Donatella.  105 

He  left  Padua  towards  the  end  of  1456  for  Venice,  there 
carved  a  statue  of  St.  John  in  wood  for  the  altar  of  the  Floren- 
tine chapel  at  the  Frari,  and  then  proceeded  to  Faenza,  where 
he  remained  long  enough  to  sculpture  the  charming  bust  of  the 
youthful  St.  John,  to  which  we  have  previously  referred,  and  a 
statue  of  the  same  saint  in  wood,  for  the  convent  of  the  Padri 
Eiformati.  In  March,  1457,  he  was  called  to  Ferrara  to  act 
as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  bronze  statues  cast  by  Niccolo  and 
Giovanni  Baroncelli  for  the  Cathedral,  and  having  fulfilled  this 
duty,  returned  to  Florence,  after  an  absence  of  thirteen  years. 
One  of  the  many  changes  which  had  occurred  during  his  long 
absence,  the  death  of  Brunelleschi  (1446),  must  have  made 
Florence  other  than  it  had  been  to  him,  but  Cosmo  de'  Medici 
still  lived,  and,  as  w'e  know,  treated  him  with  constant  kindness, 
until  his  own  death,  in  1464.  Thinking  that  Donatello  dressed 
too  meanly  for  an  artist  of  his  rank,  Cosmo  sent  him  a  red 
mantle,  hood  and  surcoat,  but  he  returned  them  with  thanks, 
as  being  much  too  fine  for  his  use.  He  did,  however,  accept  a 
sum  of  money  sufficient  to  maintain  him  and  four  workmen, 
who  assisted  him  in  the  works  which  he  undertook  at  San 
Lorenzo,  and  after  Cosmo's  death,  received  a  like  pension  from 
Piero  de'  Medici,  in  lieu  of  a  farm  at  CafFagiolo,  which  he  con- 
sidered too  troublesome  a  piece  of  property  for  a  man  of  his 
age  and  occupations  to  hold.  Among  his  later  works  are  the 
bronze  statue  of  St.  John  in  the  Cathedral  at  Siena  (1458), 
the  very  beautiful  niche  at  Or  San  Michele  which  contains 
Verrocchio's  group  of  the  Incredulity  of  St.  Thomas  (1463), 
and  the  statue  of  St.  Louis  of  Toulouse  at  Santa  Croce.  At  San 
Lorenzo,  whose  sacristy  contains  his  monument  to  Giovanni 
d'  Averardo  de'  Medici,  Donatello  modelled  the  Evangelists 
in  stucco,  several  busts  of  saints,  cast  the  small  bronze  door  of 
the  sacristy,  and  commenced  the  two  bronze  pulpits,  which 
were  finished  by  his  pupil  Bertoldo,*  after  his  death,  on  March 
13th,  1466.  "While  paralyzed  and  bed-ridden  for  some  time 
before  it  occurred,  he  had  expressed  a  wish  to  be  buried  at 
San  Lorenzo,  so  that  in  death  as  in  life  he  might  be  near 
Cosmo   de'    Medici,   and    his    funeral    obsequies    were    there 

*  For  notice  of  this  artist  see  next  chapter. 


io6     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sciilpttire, 

celebrated,  in  the  presence  of  his  brother  artists  and  others 
among  his  fellow-citizens,  who  honoured  him  no  less  for  his 
singular  uprightness  than  for  his  genius.  Many  of  them  must 
have  recognized  him  not  only  as  a  representative  man  in  his 
profession,  but  as  one  who,  having  struck  the  keynote  upon 
which  so  many  of  the  subtlest  harmonies  of  his  century  were 
based,  stood  to  art  of  every  kind  in  the  fifteenth  century  as 
Niccola  Pisano  had  stood  to  that  of  the  thirteenth,  as  Giotto 
to  that  of  the  fourteenth,  and  as  Michelangelo  was  to  stand  to 
that  of  the  sixteenth.  On  this  account  not  only  sculptors,  but 
architects,  painters  and  goldsmiths  mourned  his  loss  as  one 
which  specially  concerned  the  profession  to  which  each  one  of 
them  belonged. 

All  men  then  regarded  him  as  the  greatest  of  Italian  sculp- 
tors, and  though  in  the  lapse  of  time  the  crown  was  placed 
upon  the  head  of  another  great  genius,  wc  think  that  it  had 
been  well  bestowed.  While  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Michel- 
angelo was  the  greater  artist  of  the  two  by  reason  of  his 
superior  intellect,  multiplicity  of  gifts,  imagination,  and  power 
of  thought,  yet  as  style  and  teclmic  are  qualities  which  deter- 
mine rank  in  sculpture  more  than  in  any  other  art,  we  must 
still  call  Donatello  the  greater  sculptor.  The  treatment  of 
material  in  sculpture,  whether  of  bronze  or  marble,  is  of 
supreme  importance,  both  as  regards  technic,  which  includes 
all  craft  that  can  bring  out  its  finest  qualities,  and  style,  which 
comprises  the  limitation  of  the  subject,  and  the  adaptation  of 
its  treatment,  to  the  exigencies  of  the  material.  Judged  by 
this  rule,  the  palm  belongs  to  Donatello,  for  while  he  made 
metal  and  stone  yield  all  that  they  were  capable  of  yielding, 
Michelangelo  looked  upon  them  simply  as  vehicles  for  the 
transmission  of  his  thoughts,  and  paid  little  or  no  heed  to  their 
special  qualities  either  in  respect  to  surface-treatment  or  the 
adaptation  of  his  subjects  to  their  nature.  There  is  yet 
another  glory  which  belongs  to  Donatello,  and  this  is,  that  he 
sowed  no  seeds  fruitful  of  mischief  to  art  in  the  future.  Had 
his  example  prevailed  and  his  precepts  been  remembered, 
sculpture  would  not  have  fallen  into  the  mad  extravagances  of 
the  Baroque,  and  so  soon  have  become  a  hybrid  art. 

As  compared  with  Ghiberti,  he  has  been  called  a  Pagan  in 


GJiibeiHi  and  Donatello, 


107 


Arl,  but  tbis  is  manifestly  unjust,  for  tbougb  botb  loved  tbe 
antique,  and  owed  tbcir  bigbcst  excellences  to  tbe  study  of  it, 
none  of  Gbiberti's  works  are  so  Christian  in  spirit  as  tbe 
St.  George,  tbe  St.  Jobn,  and  many  of  tbe  bas-reliefs  of 
Donatello. 


jo8    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptit,re, 


CHAPTER  n. 

(1.)  THE  SCHOLARS  OF  BRUNELLESCHl. 

Indirectly,  Brunelleschi  Avas  the  master  of  all  the  great 
painters  and  sculptors  of  his  time,  for  he  taught  them  how 
to  apply  science  to  art,  and  so  far  both  Ghiberti  and  Donatello 
were  his  pupils,  but  the  last  was  almost  literally  so,  since  as  we 
have  shown,  the  great  architect  was  not  only  his  friend,  but 
alst)  his  counsellor  and  guide.  Strictly  speaking,  however, 
Brunelleschi's  pupils,  as  mentioned  by  Vasari,  were  six  in 
number  ;*  namely,  Domenico  di  Lugano,  of  whom  we  know 
nothing ;  Geremia  da  Cremona,  the  falsely  reputed  author  of 
a  sculptured  sarcophagus  in  the  Cathedral  at  Cremona ;  f 
Schiavone,  who  is  perhaps  identical  with  Luciano  Martini  di 
Lauranna,  who  built  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Urbino ;  Simone,  to 
whom  Vasari  attributes  a  Madonna  at  Or  San  Michele,!  and 
the  sculptures  upon  the  facade  of  the  so-called  "  Chiesa 
vecchia  "  at  Tagliacozzo,  in  the  Abruzzi ;  and  the  Florentine 
bronze-casters  Antonio  di  Cristoforo  and  Niccolo  Baroncelli,  to 
whom  reference  Avas  made  in  the  last  chapter,  as  the  author 
of  five  bronze  statues  in  the  Cathedral  at  Ferrara.§  Li  1450 
Donatello  went  from  Padua  to  Ferrara,  to  confer  with  the 
directors  of  the  "  Fabbrica,"  who  wished  him  to  undertake  the 
commission  for  these  statues,  but  as  they  could  not  come  to 
terms  with  him,  it  was  offered  to  Antonio  Baroncelli,  then  at 
Venice,  and  on  his  refusal  it  was  assigned  to  his  brother 
Niccolo.  When  he  had  partially  completed  his  work,  Dona- 
tello again  visited  Ferrara  to  act  as  one  of  the  judges  appointed 
to  estimate  it.     History  is  silent  as  to  his  valuation  of  it,  aud 

*  Milanesi's  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  385. 
t  The  work  of  Omodeo;  see  p.  189. 
X  Made  for  the  guild  of  the  Chemists  in  1399. 

§  (See  p.  105,  and  Gualandi  Mem.,  iv.  series,  pp.  33-48.  and  v.  series, 
pp.  178-183. 


The  Scholars  of  Ghiberti.  109 

equally  so  as  to  his  opinion  of  the  merits  of  the  three  statues  of 
Christ  Crucified,  the  Virgin,  and  St.  John,  then  finished,  but  to 
us  they  seem  lifeless  and  uninspired,  and  chiefly  commendable 
as  examples  of  bronze-casting.  The  two  other  saints,  George 
and  Maurelius,  were  modelled  and  cast  after  the  death  of  Nic- 
C0I6  Baroncelli  (1453),  by  his  son-in-law  Domenico  di  Paris.* 
Niccolo's  most  important  Avorks  were  the  statues  ot  Duke  Borso 
d'Este,  and  of  his  grandfather,  the  Marquis  Niccolo,  which 
stood  on  either  side  of  the  great  portal  of  the  Palazzo  d'  Este 
at  Ferrara,  until  they  were  destroyed  by  the  Ptepublicans  in 
1796. f  The  first  was  a  seated  figure,  the  second  an  equestrian 
statue ;  the  horse  by  Niccolo,  \  and  the  rider  by  his  brother 
Antonio. 

(2.)    THE    SCHOLARS    OF    GHIBERTI. 

Michelozzo  Michelozzi,  the  son  of  a  tailor,  Bartolomeo  di 
Gherardo,  called  Borgognona,  is  to  be  classed  as  one  of  the 
great  architects  of  the  quattro-cento  with  Brunelleschi  and 
Alberti,  and  as  sculptor  and  goldsmith  with  Ghiberti  and 
Donatello.  He  was  born  at  Florence,  about  1396.  Vasari  calls  him 
the  pupil  of  Donatello,  with  whom  he  certainly  worked  upon 
the  monuments  of  Pope  John,  Cardinal  Brancacci,  and  Barto- 
lomeo Aragazzi  in  1427,  and  probably  upon  the  pulpit  at  Prato 
in  1434. §  It  appears,  however,  that  previously  to  the  first  of 
these  dates  he  had  worked  with  Ghiberti,  for  in  the  schedule 
of  property  which  he  drew  up  in  1427,  he  refers  to  the  year 
1419,  when  he  was  associated  with  Lorenzo  di  Bartoluccio  in 
casting  the  statue  of  St.  Matthew  for  the  niche  of  the  Arte  del 


't> 


*  Kiccolo  Baroncelli  is  perhaps  the  ISTicholaus  F.  (Florentiaus)  who 
cast  the  well-tnown  medal  of  Lionello  d'Este,  1441.  L  Friedlander  in 
the  Jahr  Biuih,  S**"^  Band,  1*  Heft,  p.  20,  concludes  that  there  were  two 
artists  of  the  same  name,  one,  Kicholas  the  elder,  who  made  this  model, 
and  the  other,  Nicholas  Fl.,  who  made  the  equestrian  statue  in  1461. 

t  M.  Miintz,  La  Renaissance  a  la  Cour  des  Papes,  1,  p.  258,  says  that 
Meo  di  Cecco,  of  Florence,  one  of  Niccolo  Baroncelli's  pupils,  assisted  his 
master  in  this  work.     Meo  was  at  Ferrara  in  l^Si,  and  at  Rome  in  1462. 

X  Called  Niccolo  del  Cavallo,  because  he  cast  the  horse  for  the  statue 
of  the  Marquis  Niccolo,  1467 ;  made  a  design  for  the  completion  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Ferrara,  1492-3;  paid  for  a  wooden  model  of  the  same.  See 
Notizie  relative  a  Ferrara,  by  the  Cav.  Cittadella,  pp.  100,  101. 

§  Gaye's  Carteggio,  vol.  i.  p.  117,  Denunzia  de'  beni. 


no     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadptiire. 

Cambio  at  Or  San  Micliele.  The  part  which  Michelozzo  took 
in  this  work  was  wholly  subordinate,  while  that  which  fell  to  him 
in  the  Brancacci  and  Aragazzi  monuments  was  very  much  more 
considerable.  Certain  parts  of  the  latter  monument,  as  for  in- 
stance the  sepulchral  effigy  and  the  figure  of  Faith,  are  worked 
in  somewhat  rounder  planes,  and  in  a  less  realistic  style  than 
is  habitual  to  Donatello,  and  may  be  altogether  by  Michelozzo, 
though  the  general  design  and  all  the  best  parts  of  this  and  the 
other  monuments  upon  which  they  worked  together,  evidently 
belong  to  the  master  only.* 

As  the  greater  part  of  Michelozzo's  life  was  devoted  to 
architecture,  he  left  little  of  metal  or  marble  work  from  which 
we  can  form  an  estimate  of  his  ability  either  as  goldsmith  or 
sculptor.  The  small  statue  of  Faith  in  one  of  the  niches  upon 
the  base  of  the  monument  of  Pope  John,  a  statuette  in  silver 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  which  he  made  for  the  Baptistry  altar, f 
and  the  sculptured  portal  of  the  Palazzo  Yismara  at  Milan,  are 
all  that  can  be  attributed  to  him  with  certainty.  When  Cosmo 
de'  Medici  was  banished  from  Florence  he  went  to  Venice,  and 
spent  his  year  of  exile  (1432-3)  in  the  convent  of  S.  Giorgio. 
Moved  by  feelings  of  gratitude  for  the  shelter  afforded  him,  he 
then  caused  Michelozzo,  who  had  accompanied  him,  to  build  a 
Library  in  the  convent  adjoining  the  church,  which  he  endowed 
with  a  number  of  MSS.  and  presented  to  the  monks.  The  wooden 
crucifix  in  the  church,  said  to  be  by  Michelozzo,  and  if  so, 
sculptured  at  this  time,t  is  a  thoroughly  naturalistic,  carefully 
stu-lied,  and  admirably  modelled  representation  of  a  death  of 
agony,  in  which  the  spirit  achieves  no  triumph  over  the  pangs 
of  the  body.  The  Library  of  S.  Giorgio  was  destroyed  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  this  is  much  to  be  regretted,  as  it 
would  doubtless  have  strengthened  Michelozzo's  claims  to  recog- 
nition as  the  pioneer  of  the  Pienaissance  style  of  architecture 
in  the  north  of  Italy.  He  returned  to  Lombardy  in  1456,  to 
enlarge  the  Palazzo  Yismara,  which  Francesco  Sforza  had  pre- 

*  M.  Eng.  Miintz  considers  it  to  be  the  work  of  Michelozzo,  executed 
under  Donatello's  direction.  Bee  "  Le  Tour  du  Monde,"  3  Juin,  1882, 
p.  350. 

t  In  the  life  of  PoUajuolo,  Yasari  attributes  this  figure  to  that  artist, 
but  it  was  certainly  made  by  Michelozzo  in  1452. 

X  It  is  attributed  to  Michelozzo  by  Cicognara,  Borghini  and  Morrona. 
ScG  Cicogna,  Iscriz.  Venet.  t.  iv.  p.  313. 


Michelozzo  Michelozzi. 


1 II 


sented  to  Cosmo  de*  Medici,  and  then  sculptured  its  very  Lcau- 
tiful  portal,  which,  within  a  few  years  has  been  removed  from 
the  Via  de'  Bassi  to  the  museum  at  the  Brera,  It  is  in  the 
Renaissance  style,  and  of  sifnple  and  elegant  design.  The 
greyhound,  the  palm,  and  the  hand,  as  ducal  cognizances,  are 
sculptured  upon  its  architrave,  together  with  medallion  por- 
traits of  the  Duke  and  his  wife  Beatrice  d'Este,  while  armed 
men,  and  two  richly  dressed  dames  holding  spears  upon  whose 
points  hang  eagle-crowned  helmets,  fill  the  flat  spaces  of  the 
pilasters  on  either  side  of  the  entrance.  This  portal  is  perhaps 
the  prototype  of  many  such  palace  entrances  afterwards  erected 
in  Lombard  cities  during  the  domination  of  the  Sforza,  in  token 
of  the  gratitude  of  their  partisans  who  had  been  rewarded  for 
faithful  service  by  gifts  of  confiscated  lands  and  funds.* 

Of  Michelozzo' s  distinguished  career  as  an  architect  we  are 
not  here  called  upon  to  speak,  otherwise  than  to  mention  that 
as  such  he  was  constantly  employed  by  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  for 
whom  he  built  the  Medici  and  Eiccardi  Palaces,  the  Villa 
Careggi,  the  Villa  Mozzi,  the  Convent  of  St.  Mark,  and  the 
Library  of  the  Marciana,  which  Cosmo  endowed  with  a  precious 
collection  of  MSS.  made  by  Niccolo  Niccoli,  a  citizen  of  Florence, 
and  placed  under  the  care  of  the  learned  Thomas  of  Sarzance, 
afterwards  Pope  Nicholas  V.  Michelozzo  died  about  1476, 
and  was  buried  at  St.  Mark's. 

The  Palazzo  Vismara  at  Milan,  which  he  rebuilt  for  Cosmo 
de'  Medici,  is  mentioned  by  Antonio  Averulino,  called  Filarete, 
Florentine  architect  and  bronze-caster,  in  a  manuscript  treatise 
on  architecture,  dedicated  to  Piero  de'  Medici,  preserved  in  the 
Magliabecchiana  Library  at  Florence. f     This  treatise  is  divided 

*  "  Such  marble  portals,"  says  Mongeri  {Bull""  della  Consulta  Arch., 
Anno  ii.  fasc.  4  :  Milano,  1875), "  were  the  great  luxury  of  the  time.  Many 
have  been  destroyed,  but  there  still  remain  at  Milan  the  Gothic  portal 
de'  Borromei,  and  the  Renaissance  portals  of  the  Portisian,  del  Fon- 
ta-na,  dei  Castani,  del  Yimercati  (Pal.  Vismara  by  Michelozzo);  at  Lodi, 
alia  casa  dei  i\Iozzanici ;  at  Piacenza  alia  casa  dei  Landi ;  at  Cremona, 
the  Porta  della  Stanga,"  erected  in  1-199,  and  now  one  of  the  chief 
ornaments  of  the  Renaissance  Museum  at  the  Louvre.  It  was  bought 
by  the  French  Government  in  1876  for  43,000  francs.  See  an  article 
in  the  Gazette  clcs  Beaux  Arts,  of  February  6th,  1876. 

t  Class  xiv.  There  is  a  copy  of  it  in  the  Palatina,  and  a  Latin  trans- 
lation dedicated  to  Matthias  Corvinus  in  the  Marciana  at  Venice.  For 
notices  of  this  treatise  see  A.  F.  Rio,  de  VArt  Chretien,  vol.  ii.  pp.  329 


112    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

into  twenty-five  books,  treating  of  the  origin  and  construction 
of  buildings,  and  of  the  selection  of  a  favourable  site  for  a  city 
called  Sforzinda,  after  Francesco  Sforza,  which  he  builds  in  his 
pages  with  that  mingled  spirit  of  Paganism  and  Christianity 
characteristic  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  In  its  midst  he 
places  a  splendid  Cathedral  in  the  style  of  St.  Mark's  at  Venice, 
"  like  the  ideal  man,  durable,  beautiful,  and  useful,"  and 
groups  around  it  palaces,  convents,  churches  and  hospitals, 
destined  to  be  decorated  by  all  the  great  artists  of  the  day,  with 
works  of  art  calculated  to  have  a  bearing  upon  the  moral  and 
religious  education  of  the  sovereign,  and  of  his  people  whom  he 
divides  into  the  nobles,  compared  to  chalcedony  and  sardonyx, 
whose  transparent  texture  shows  every  flaw ;  the  middle  classes, 
whom  he  likens  to  porphyry  and  alabaster ;  and  the  "  plebs,'* 
to  marbles  and  inferior  stones.  Around  the  Prince's  palace 
he  places  four  churches,  dedicated  to  SS.  Francis,  Dominic, 
Augustine,  and  Benedict ;  and  a  gymnasium  where  the  young 
men  pray  and  fast,  and  the  women  sew,  spin,  weave,  and 
embroider.* 

The  author  of  this  treatise  was  an  accomplished  architect, 
but  he  is  not  to  be  ranked  with  the  great  men  of  his  time 
either  as  sculptor  or  as  bronze-caster.f  It  is,  therefore,  not  a 
little  strange  that  he,  rather  than  Ghiberti  or  Donatello,  should 
have  been  selected  by  Eugenius  IV.  to  cast  the  gates  of  the 
great  Pioman  Basilica,  which  commemorate  the  Council  held  by 
this  Pope  at  Florence,  in  1434,  with  the  hope  of  uniting  the 
Greek  and  Latin  churches,  |     The  result  of  the  Papal  commis- 

et  seq. ;  V Anonimo  (Morelli),  p.  169,  note  74,  and  Vasari  (ed.  Milanesi), 
vol.  ii.  p.  458,  note  1. 

*  Written  in  an  affected  style,  replete  with  Latinisms,  and  tediously 
prolix,  this  treatise  contains  some  important  notices  of  artists  and 
works  of  art,  of  which  Vasari,  despite  his  hard  judgment  uj^on  it,  did 
not  scruple  to  avail  himself  without  acknowledgment. 

t  Filarete  designed  the  great  hospital  at  Milan,  and  built  a  part  of 
the  Cathedi-al  at  Bergamo.  The  dates  of  his  birth  and  death  are  un- 
known. He  was  the  son  of  a  certain  Peter,  as  we  learn  from  the 
inscription  on  the  gates  of  St.  Peter's. 

X  The  gates  must  have  been  commenced  after  1434,  the  year  of  the 
Council.  They  were  set  up  on  the  2Gth  of  June,  1445.  In  1447,  Pope 
Eugenius  commissioned  a  Dominican  sculptor,  Fra  Antonio  Michele,  to 
represent  the  principal  events  of  his  pontificate  upon  wooden  doors  to 
fill  up   the    side   portals   of  St.  Peter's.     These    doors   were   destroyed 


Antonio  Avernlino.  1 1 3 

Bion,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  is  unsatisfactory  from  an 
artistic  point  of  view,  though  historically  cousitlcred  the  gates 
are  very  interesting,  for  many  illustrious  persons  appear  in  the 
reliefs  which  fill  their  panels.  In  one  of  them,  where  the 
Council  is  represented,  the  Pope,  the  Eastern  Emperor  John 
Paleologus  VI.,  and  his  brother  Demetrius,  tyrant  of  the  Morea, 
are  introduced ;  and  in  another,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
the  Egyptian  Abbot  of  S.  Antonio,  and  Eugenius  kneeling  to 
receive  the  keys  from  the  hands  of  St.  Peter.  The  Saviour  and 
the  Madonna,  with  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  are  represented  in  the 
upper  panels,  the  crucifixion  of  the  first  Apostle  and  the  decapi- 
tation of  the  second,  in  those  of  a  smaller  size  below  them,  while 
the  borders  of  the  panels  are  enriched  with  medallions,  whose 
mythological  subjects  show  to  what  extent  the  spirit  of 
Paganism  already  pervaded  Art  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  If,  however,  we  are  shocked  to  find  Leda  and  the 
Swan,  Jupiter  and  Ganymede,  &c.,  among  them,  we  are  no  less 
struck  with  the  singular  want  of  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  the 
place  shown  by  Filarete,  in  placing  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the 
gates  on  the  inside,  a  bas-relief  of  himself  and  his  workmen 
going  into  the  country  on  a  frolic,  accompanied  by  a  donkey 
well  laden  with  provisions. 

Filarete,  who  died  at  Ptome  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  sopra 
Minerva,  makes  no  mention  in  the  introduction  to  his  Treatise 
of  the  Simone  who  assisted  him  in  making  the  gates  of  St. 
Peter's,  and  no  name  but  his  own  apj)ears  in  the  inscription 
upon  them.  It  is  however  certain  that  he  had  the  assistance 
of  a  Simone  whom  Vasari  identifies  as  the  sculptor  of  the 
grave  slab  of  Pope  Martin  V,  at  the  Lateran,  and  as  the 
brother  of  Donatello,  while  he  elsewhere  mentions  a  Simone 
among  the  scholars  of  Brunelleschi.  As  Donatello  had  no 
brother  of  the  name,  we  may  suppose  that  the  person  referred 
to  as  such  was  his  scholar  Simone  di  Nanni  Ferucci  da  Fiesole, 
and  that  the  other  Simone,  who  worked  with  Filarete  at  Ptome, 
was  the  Florentine  goldsmith  Simone  di  Giovanni  Ghini  (1407— 
1491),  who  was  employed  at  Ptome  by  Eugenius  IV,  after  the 
year  1427,  and  by  his  three  immediate  successors. 

under  Paul  V.     See  hes  Arts  a  la  Gourdes  Papes,  par  Eug.  Miintz,  voL 
iv.  J).  44  of  the  Bih.  des  Ecoles  Fr.  d'Athenes  et  de  Rome. 

I 


114    Histo7'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sailpture. 

We  shall  speak  later  of  the  Simone  Fiorentino  who  worked 
with  other  sculptors  at  Eimini  upon  the  marhles  of  San 
Francesco,  and  now  return  to  the  scholars  of  Ghiherti  not  yet 
mentioned.  Antonio  del  Pollajuolo,  the  son  of  Jacopo  d'Antonio 
Benci,  called  Pollajuolo,*  horn  at  Florence  in  1429,  was 
apprenticed  at  an  early  age  to  Ghiberti's  step-father,  the  gold- 
smith Bartolo  di  Michele,  under  whom  he  acquired  that  great 
skill  as  a  niellist,  caster,  and  worker  of  metals,  which  he  dis- 
played in  many  precious  articles  for  church  use,  and  personal 
adornment,  now  irrecoverably  lost.  His  extant  works  are  a 
bas-relief  of  the  Nativity,  made  for  the  silver  altar  in  the 
**  Opera  "  of  the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  a  bronze  relief  of  the 
Crucifixion,  the  bust  of  a  warrior  in  terra-cotta,  and  a  bronze 
group  of  Hercules  and  Cacus  at  the  Bargello,  an  enamelled 
Pax  at  the  UfEzi,  a  quail  rising  from  her  nest  in  the  bronze 
frieze  of  Andrea  Pisano's  Baptistry  gate,  two  Papal  monuments 
at  St.  Peter's,  and  two  bas-reliefs  in  bronze  at  S.  Pietro  in 
Vincoli. 

The  excessive  mannerism  of  style,  and  exaggeration  in  pose 
and  facial  expression,  which  strike  us  in  his  pictures,!  and  in 
his  one  engraving  of  ten  naked  men  fighting  in  a  wood,t  are 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case  far  less  conspicuous  in  his 
bronzes,  though  clearly  visible  in  the  reliefs  of  the  seven 
Virtues,  and  the  ten  liberal  Arts  (.see  page  116),  upon  the 
carved  sides  of  the  highly  ornamented  couch  which,  with  the 
sepulchral  effigy  upon  it  {sec  page  115),  forms  the  monument 
of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  in  the  chapel  of  the  Sacrament  at  St.  Peter's 
(1493).  Called  to  Ptome  by  Innocent  VIII.  after  his  accession 
in  1484,  to  make  this  monument  of  his  predecessor,  Pollajuolo 
remained  there  to  make  that  of  Pope  Innocent,  who  died  in 
1492.  Not  content  with  the  usual  custom  of  representing  the 
deceased  lying  upon  a  sarcophagus,  he  placed  a  second  statue 
above  it,  of  the  seated  Pontiff,  stretching  out  one  hand  in  bene- 

*  Cellini  t^ys  he  was  so-called  because  he  was  a  poulterer.  This  is 
denied  by  BaldinuccI  and  Gaye  (op.  cit.  i.  pp.  2G5,  266),  on  the  ground 
that  Antonio  and  Piero  ranked  as  citizens.  The  family  was  artistic.  The 
famous  architect  Cronaca  belonged  to  it,  as  did  Matteo,  the  pupil  of 
Antonio  Rossellino,  a  sculptor  of  great  promise,  who  died  at  an  early  age. 

t  Su\all  pictures  of  the  labours  of  Hercules  at  the  Uffizi,  Tobias  and 
the  Angel,  National  Gallery. 

X  Bartsch,  Le  Peintre  Graveur,  vol.  ix.  p.  47. 


Antonio  Pollajuolo. 


115 


diction,  and  holding  in  the  other  a  lance,  v/hich  represents  that 
given  bj  Sultan  Bajazet  to  the  Grand  Master  of  PJiodes,  who 
sent  it  to  Rome  as  the  veritable  weapon  used  to  pierce  our 
Lord's  side  at  the  Crucifixion.  This  monument,  placed  at  a 
considerable  height  above  the  pavement,  cannot  be  scruti- 
nised closely  enough  to  judge  its  minor  details,  such  as  the 


statuettes  of  the  Cardinal  Virtues  on  either  side  of  the  seated 
statue,  and  the  crowned  woman,  emblematic  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, seated  between  Faith  and  Hope,  in  the  lunette  above  it. 

The  bas-reliefs  of  the  imprisonment  and  liberation  of  St. 
Peter,  upon  the  bronze  reliquary  which  contains  the  supposed 
chains  of  the  Apostle,  at  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  are  among  the 
last  works  of  Pollajuolo,  who  died  at  Rome  about  1496,  and 
was  buried  in  the  left  aisle  of  this  church,  near  the  principal 
entrance. 

As  an  ornamental  sculptor  he  is  known  to  us  only  by  the 
famous  quail  in  the  frieze  of  the  Andrea  Pisano  gate  at  the 
Jiaptistry,  to  which  we  have  already  referred  as  having  been 
assigned  to  Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  in  1453,  after  whose  death  it 
was  continued  and  completed  by  his  son  Vittorio,  with  the  help 
of  Pollajuolo,  and  perhaps  other  assistants.  In  treatment  it  is 
absolutely  naturalistic,  and,  though  beautiful,  is  therefore  very 
much  out  of  keeping  with  the  style  of  the  reliefs  upon  the 
gates  which  it  enframes.  Like  the  frieze  around  Ghibcrti's 
second  gate,  which  is  even  less  conventional,  if  possible,  it  is 

I  2 


1 1 6     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

made  up  of  leaves,  flowers  and  fruits,  whose  every  detail  is 
literally  rendered.  The  quail,  with  his  wings  just  spread,  the 
squirrel  cracking  a  nut,  the  weasel  creeping  towards  the  hird, 
are  masterly  in  execution,  but  unfit  for  the  use  to  which  they 
are  put,  on  account  of  the  absolutely  unconventional  way  in 
which  they  are  treated.  In  the  best  Renaissance  ornament, 
where  the  child  plays  a  conspicuous  part,  masks,  tripods, 
wreaths  and  ribbons,  as  well  as  plants,  fruits  and  flowers,  are 
freely  introduced,  but  these  are  treated  flatly,  and  not  in  the 
round,  on  the  principle  of  absolute  imitation.  They  are  in  fact 
abstracts  of  nature,  which  give  us  the  spirit  of  life  and  growth, 
and  thus  harmonize  with  the  architectural  forms  around  them. 
These  pictorial  tendencies  of  Ghiberti's  school  which  we  are 
disposed  to  condemn,  both  as  contrary  to  correct  principles, 
and  as  the  source  of  future  decadence  in  ornamental  art,  are 
fully  exemplified  in  the  friezes  of  both  doorways.  Little  is 
known  of  Vittorio  Ghiberti,  but  that  he  was  born  in  1417,  that 
he  assisted  his  father  in  the  second  Baptistry  gate,  and  that 


he  had  three  sons,  Francesco,  Clone,  and  Buonaccorso,  the  last 
of  whom  followed  the  paternal  profession  of  goldsmith  and 
bronze  caster.  His  son,  Vittorio  II.,  who  had  no  other  glory 
than  that  of  being  Ghiberti's  grandson,  was  the  last  of  his 
race. 


The  Sc/iolars  of  Donatelio*  ii^j 


(3.)  THE  SCHOLARS  OF  DONATELLO. 

**  All  tliose  who  after  Douatello's  death  were  good  sculptors 
in  relief,  may  be  called  his  scholars,"  says  Vasari.  This  is  not 
saying  too  much,  for  he  so  perfected  this  branch  of  sculpture 
that  all  who  studied  it  were  obliged  to  turn  to  his  works  as 
models.  Bertoldo,  Nanni  di  Banco,  Desiderio,  Rossellino,  and 
Vellano  of  Padua,  are  the  four  artists  whom  Vasari  specifies  as 
Donatello's  pupils,  and  of  these  the  first,  Bertoldo  di  Giovanni, 
is  not  mentioned  in  connection  with  him  until  after  his  return 
fi-om  Padua  in  1456,  when  they  worked  together  at  San 
Lorenzo.  How  far  the  two  pulpits  in  this  church  were  ad- 
vanced when  the  master  died  is  not  known,  but  it  appears 
certain  that  much  remained  to  be  done  to  complete  the  bronze 
reliefs.  Unequal,  and  in  parts  exaggerated,  as  they  are,  some 
of  them,  as  for  instance  the  group  around  the  Cross,  the  Christ 
in  the  Descent  to  Hell,  and  the  Pentecost,  are  instinct  with  an 
energy  and  dramatic  intensity  which  indicates  that  the  vigour 
of  the  old  artist  was  not  extinct  when  he  conceived  them,  but 
they  give  us  no  clear  idea  of  Bertoldo's  capacity,  as  we  cannot 
estimate  his  share  in  them.  Those,  however,  who  know  his 
bas-relief  at  the  Bargello  of  a  battle  between  naked  horse  and 
foot  soldiers,  and  his  very  fine  medal  of  Mahomet  II.,  can  have 
no  doubt  as  to  his  knowledge  and  ability,  of  which  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici  must  have  been  convinced,  when  he  made  him  Director 
of  the  Academy  which  he  ojaened  to  artists  in  the  Gardens  of 
St.  Mark.  Bertoldo  retained  this  office  until  his  death  at 
Poggio  a  Cajano,  in  the  last  days  of  December,  1491. 


NANNI   DI    BANCO. 

Son  of  a  certain  Antonio  di  Banco,  *'  maestro  di  pietra,"  in 
the  service  of  the  "Opera"  of  the  Cathedral  in  1407,  this 
sculptor  probably  learned  from  him  what  he  knew  of  sculpture, 
rather  than  from  Donatello,  who  kindly  helped  him  out  of 
sundry  difficulties  caused  by  his  want  of  thorough  training, 
though  ]ie  can  hardly  be  considered  his  master,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  term. 

The  anecdotes  of  Vasari  about  their  relations  to  each  othci, 


1 1 8    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptttre. 

give  proof  of  Donatello's  good  nature  rather  than  of  Nanni's 
skill.  When  he  was  employed  hy  the  Guild  of  the  Carpenters 
and  Masons  to  sculpture  their  four  patron  saints  for  a  niche 
on  the  outside  of  Or  San  Michele,  he  did  so  without  first  cal- 
culating its  receptive  capacity.  Finding  that  he  could  not 
crowd  them  into  the  allotted  space,  he  turned  for  help  to 
Donatello,  who  so  curtailed  their  proportions  hy  a  judicious  use 
of  the  chisel,  that  they  entered  into  it  without  difficulty  (1408). 
The  has-relief  below  them  of  a  sculptor's  studio,  is  well  com- 
posed, and  interesting  as  a  record  of  such  a  place  at  Florence 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  the  saints  and  the  statue  of  St. 
Philip  in  an  adjoining  niche  are  in  no  wise  remarkable.  Dona- 
tello was  to  have  made  the  latter,  but  as  he  asked  a  higher 
price  for  his  services  than  the  Guild  of  the  Hosiers  was  willing 
to  give  him,  they  employed  Nanni,  who  agreed  to  take  what- 
ever any  competent  judge  should  consider  a  fair  valuation. 
When  it  was  finished  the  Guild  made  Donatello  their  umpire, 
who,  to  their  great  surprise,  named  a  larger  sum  than  he  had 
asked  to  make  it  himself,  on  the  ground  that  Nanni  had  spent 
a  great  deal  more  time  upon  it  than  he  should  have  done. 

Another  statue  at  Or  San  Michele,  that  of  St.  Eloi,  the 
patron  of  goldsmiths,  has  been  attributed  to  Nanni,  though  as 
it  seems  to  us  without  internal  evidence,  considering  that  it  is 
unquestionably  superior  in  style  and  treatment  to  his  undoubted 
works.*  Neither  in  the  Madonna  della  Cintola,  a  bas-relief  by 
Nanni  (1418-21),  over  the  side  portal  of  the  Cathedral  opposite 
the  Via  de'  Serri,f  nor  in  the  relief  of  the  sculptor's  studio 
already  mentioned,  nor  in  that  below  the  statue  of  St.  Eloi,| 
which  represents  the  expulsion  of  Satan  from  a  horse  by  the 
Saint,  is  there  any  resemblance  to  Donatello's  mode  of  treat- 
ment, and  this  seems  to  show  that  Nanni  was  slow  to  profit  by 
his  opportunities.  He  died  at  Florence  in  1421,  and  was  buried 
at  Sta.  Croce. 

*  Baldinucci,  vol.  i.  p.  426,  attributes  it  to  l^anni,  who  is  also  accredited 
with  it  ia  a  note-book  belonging  to  the  Gaddi  family,  entitled,  "  Fragments 
of  the  Lives  of  the  Painters."  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  16 i,  speaks  doubtfully. 
Furthermore  it  is  not  mentioned  in  a  MS.  list  of  painters  in  the  Strozzi 
Library. 

t  Long  attributed  to  Jacopo  della  Quercia.  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol. 
ii.  p.  116,  note  1,  also  p.  165. 

J  Id.  vol.  ii.  p.  116,  note  1.     See.  Appendix,  letter  M. 


Dcsiderio.  f  1 9 


DESIDERIO    DA    SETTIGNANO. 

(1428-1464.) 

Desklerio,  the  son  of  a  stone-cutter  named  Bartolomeo  di 
Francesco,  called  Ferro,  was  born  at  Settignano  in  1428,  just 
forty-seven  years  before  the  infant  Michelangelo  was  left  there 
by  his  parents  in  charge  of  a  stone-cutter's  wife.  We  know 
nothing  about  this  sculptor  but  that  he  had  two  brothers, 
Francesco  and  Gesi  ;  that  he  became  Donatello's  pupil, 
that  he  was  admitted  to  the  sculptors'  guild  in  1453,  that 
he  died  on  January  IGth,  1464,  leaving  a  wife  and  two 
children,  and  that  he  was  buried  in  the  church  of  San 
Piero  Maggiore.  Young  as  he  still  was  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  he  had  gained  a  reputation  which  his  few  extant  works 
fully  justify.  "  Nature,  indignant  at  being  outdone  by  him," 
sang  an  anonymous  poet  in  verses  laid  upon  his  tomb,  "  cut 
short  his  days ;  but  her  vengeance  proved  vain,  for  he  had  given 
immortality  to  his  living  marbles  and  they  to  him."  Vasari 
calls  him  "an  imitator  of  Donatello's  manner,"  but  in  this  we 
cannot  agree,  for  it  is  dramatic,  vigorous  and  energetic,  while 
that  of  Desiderio  is  quiet,  gentle  and  unimpassioned.  We 
have  little  to  judge  him  by — a  bust,  a  monument,  and  a  taber- 
nacle— but  these  are  suflBcient  to  show  his  exquisite  taste  in 
ornament,  his  great  technical  skill  and  his  originality. 

The  bust  is  that  of  Marietta  Palla  Strozzi,  wife  of  Celio 
Calcagnini,  of  Ferrara,  which  has  lately  passed  from  the 
palace  of  her  ancestors  at  Florence  to  the  Eoyal  Museum  at 
Berlin.*'  The  face  is  not  beautiful,  but  it  fascinates  and  rivets 
the  attention.  The  drooping  eyelids  seem  about  to  close  as  in 
sleej)  or  death,  and  the  almost  unnaturally  calm  features  con- 
trast strikingly  with  the  elaborately  arranged  hair,  the  richly 
brocaded  dress,  and  the  broad  band  of  marble  below  the 
shoulders,  sculptured  with  recumbent  figures  and  little  genii 
in  low  relief.  Whether  the  artist  thus  represented  this  high- 
born dame  with  a  meaning,  or  from   mere  caprice,  we   cannot 

*  Dr.  Bode  (p.  32,  Lief.  62,  E'ztnsf  xmdKunstler,  etc.)  questions  whether 
this  can  be  the  bust  of  the  Marietta  di  Palla  Strozzi  whose  second 
husband  Celio  Calcagnini  was  a  minion  of  Borso  d'  Este — as  she  was  but 
sixteen  when  Desiderio  died  (1464),  and  the  person  represented  in  the 
bust  looks  at  least  ten  years  older. 


T20    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpture, 

say,  but  his  work  is  a  masterpiece,  in  which  the  best  charac- 
teristics of  quattro-cento  sculpture  are  combined,  while  their 
attraction  is  enhanced  by  the  charm  of  mystery. 

The  qualities  which  give  value  to  this  portrait  bust  shine 
out  at  Sta.  Croce  in  Desidcrio's  monument  to  the  learned 
scholar  Carlo  Marsuppini  {d.  1455),  whilome  secretary  to  Pope 
Eugenius  IV,,  and  to  Florence.  A  recess  formed  by  the  pro- 
jecting architrave  and  pilasters,  both  of  which  are  richly 
decorated  with  classic  ornaments,  contains  the  effigy  of  the 
deceased  with  his  hands  crossed  upon  a  book,  lying  upon  a 
parade  bed,  placed  on  the  top  of  a  lion-footed  sarcophagus, 
whose  ends  and  sides  are  enriched  with  elegantly  disposed 
acanthus  leaves,  intertwined  with  ribbons  attached  to  a  mortuary 
tablet.  It  stands  on  a  sculptured  platform  raised  above  an 
ornate  base,  at  either  end  of  which  nude  children  hold  armorial 
shields.  They  are  balanced  in  the  upper  part  of  the  tomb  by 
other  children,  placed  at  either  end  of  the  entablature  to  bear 
up  the  ends  of  a  long  pendant  festoon  which  falls  from  a  sculp- 
tured vase  on  the  top  of  the  lunette,  against  which  they  lean 
for  support.  This  lunette  contains  a  charming  bas-relief  of 
the  Madonna  and  Child  with  two  praying  angels.  Every  part 
of  the  surface  is  enriched,  but  the  ornamental  details  are  so 
symmetrically  disposed,  and  so  delicately  sculptured,  that  the 
monument  docs  not  appear  to  be  overloaded. 

We  shall  not  describe  Desiderio's  tabernacle  at  San  Lorenzo, 
with  its  leaf  ornament,  its  praying  angels,  and  its  Pieta  in  flat 
relief,  nor  dwell  upon  the  frieze  of  angels'  heads  which  he  and 
Donatello  sculptured  for  the  Cappella  Pazzi,*  nor  make  more 
than  a  passing  reference  to  the  wooden  statue  of  the  Magdalen, 
at  Santa  Trinita,  which  was  finished  by  Benedetto  da  Majauo 
after  our  sculptor's  death  in  14G4.  He  who  knows  his  master- 
works,  the  bust  of  Marietta  Strozzi,  and  the  Marsuppini  monu- 
ment, knows  Desiderio  in  his  possibilities  and  his  limitations. 
Artists  like  Donatello,  or  writers  like  Shakespeare,  may  reveal 
new  phases  of  genius  in  every  added  work,  but  sculptors  like 
Desiderio,  or  poets  like  Gray,  tell  us  in  a  few  perfect  marbles 
and  poems  all  that  they  would  have  said  had  their  works  been 
infinitely  multiplied. 

*  Alberti's  Memoriale  (1510)  mentions  this  frieze  as  a  joint  work,  and 
speaks  of  Desiderio  as  Donatello's  scholar.     Bode,  op.  cit.  p.  39. 


The  Scholars  of  Donatello.  1 2 1 


BEUN-ARDO    ROSSELLINO    (1409-14G4),    AND    HIS    BROTHER 

ANTONIO  (1425-1478). 

The  three  finest  Eeiiaissance  tombs  in  Tuscany  are  those 
of  Lionardo  Bruni  (1444),  by  Bernardo  Ptossellino,  at  Sta. 
Croce,  of  Carlo  Marsuppiui  (1454),  by  Desiderio,  in  the  same 
church,  and  of  Cardinal  James  of  Portugal,  by  Antonio 
Eossellino  (1459),  at  San  Miniato.  The  first,  which  served 
as  a  type  of  the  other  two,  is  severely  simple  in  effect,  the 
second  extremely  rich,  though  equally  quiet  in  line  ;  while  the 
third  attains  the  golden  mean  in  point  of  ornament,  thanks 
to  the  judicious  contrast  preserved  between  adorned  and  un- 
adorned spaces,  the  substitution  of  the  simply  disposed  folds 
of  a  curtain  upon  the  archivolt  for  a  heavy  festoon  outside  the 
arch,  and  the  opposition  of  angels  and  putti  in  action,  to  the 
stillness  and  repose  of  the  sepulchral  effigy.  In  each  the 
deceased  reposes  upon  a  draped  parade  bed,  placed  on  the  top  of 
a  sarcophagus  stand  ir-^g  in  a  recess,  and  in  each  the  lunette  is 
filled  with  a  circuiar  relief  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  sup- 
ported by  kneeling  or  flying  angels  ;  but  here  the  resemblance 
ends,  for  while  Bernardo  has  placed  eagles,  and  Antonio  seated 
genii  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  bier,  Desiderio  has  dispensed 
with  both,  and  where  he  introduced  children  with  shields  below 
and  above  it,  Antonio  placed  winged  angels  with  emblems  upon 
either  end  of  the  entablature  above  the  sepulchral  effigy.  The 
Madonna  and  Child  under  the  arch  of  the  Cardinal's  tomb  is 
relieved  against  a  blue  background,  studded  with  stars,  the  flat 
space  around  it  is  enriched  with  cherubim,  and  the  wreath 
which  enframes  it  is  supported  by  flying  angels.  The  occu- 
pant of  this  beautiful  monument,  a  member  of  the  royal  house 
of  Portugal,  who  served  the  Florentine  Republic  as  ambassador 
at  the  court  of  Spain,  "lived  in  the  flesh,"  says  his  biographer, 
"as  if  he  were  freed  from  it,  like  an  angel  rather  than  a  man, 
and  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
six." 

Antonio  Rossellino,  w^ho  sculptured  his  tomb,  and  his 
brother  Bernardo,  who  made  that  of  Lionardo  Bruni,  apostolic 
secretary,  chancellor  of  the  Republic,  and  eminent  scliolar 
(13G9-1444),  were  the   sons   of  Matteo  di   Domenico   Gam- 


122    Historical  Handbook  of  ItaliaJi  Sctdptttre. 

berelli.*  Bernardo,  the  elder  of  the  two,  was  the  favourite 
architect  of  Popes  Nicholas  V.  and  Pius  II.,  for  whom  he  is 
commonly  supposed  to  have  huilt  the  Piccolomini  Palace  and 
the  Town  Hall  at  Cosignano  (Pienza),  the  Pope's  birthplace, 
as  well  as  some  important  edifices  at  Siena.  It  is  however 
possible  that  another  Florentine  of  the  same  name  built  them, 
and  not  Rossellino.f  whose  many  important  works  in  sculpture 
■would  seem  to  preclude  the  devotion  of  so  much  time  to  archi- 
tecture as  their  erection  would  have  demanded.  Besides  the 
Bruni  monument  at  Sta.  Croce,  already  described,  he  made  that 
of  the  Beata  Villana  (1451),  a  Florentine  saint  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  at  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  and  the  monument  of 
Filippo  Lazzari  (1464),  doctor  of  laws,  in  the  church  of  San 
Domenico  at  Pistoja.  These  tombs,  and  the  busts  of  the 
youthful  St.  John  and  Battista  Sforza  at  the  Bargello,  give 
evidence  of  remarkable  artistic  ability,  high  technical  training, 
and  refined  taste.  They  do  not  however  show  those  qualities 
of  charm  and  grace  which  give  value  to  the  works  of  his  brother 
Antonio,  who  ranks  with  Desiderio,  Mino  da  Fiesole,  and  Bene- 
detto da  Majano,  among  the  first  sculptors  of  his  time.  Although 
Vasari  mentions  him  among  the  scholars  of  Donatello,  Antonio 
really  belonged  to  the  school  of  Ghiberti.  His  pictorial  tenden- 
cies are  evident  in  the  angels  of  the  Cardinal's  monument  at  San 
Miniato  already  described,  and  are  fully  manifested  in  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  monument  of  Mary  of  Aragon  {cl.  1470),  in  the 
church  of  Monte  Oliveto  at  Naples,  which  he  made  for  her 
husband  the  Duke  of  Amalfi.|  The  Nativity  is  a  picture  in 
marble,  charming  in  expression,  excellent  in  composition,  per- 
fect in  execution,  but  not  a  bas-relief  properly  so  called,  and 
•the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Eesurrection  and  the  relief  of  the 

*  Matteo  had  five  sons,  all  artists,  viz.,  Bernardo,  Domenico,  Maso, 
Giovanni  and  Antonio. 

t  The  Vatican  registers  of  Pins  II.'s  reign,  mention  M°  Bernardo  di 
Fierenza,  as  architect  of  the  buildings  at  Pienza,  but  do  not  give  his 
family  name.  Pius  II.  in  his  Commentaries,  speaks  of  him  as  Bernardu? 
Florentinus.  M.  Eugene  Miintz,  oip.  cit.,  vol.  iv.  p.  234,  after  careful 
research,  discusses  the  question  whether  this  Bernardo  is  Rossellino  or 
Bernarao  di  Lorenzo,  without  being  able  to  decide  it  definitely. 

X  The  Duke  was  so  delighted  with  the  monument  of  the  Cardinal  di 
Portogallo,  that  he  commissioned  Antonio  Eossellino  to  repeat  it  at 
Naples. 


The  Scholars  of  DGuatcllo.  123 

Virgin,  St.  John,  and  the  Magdalen  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross, 
over  an  altar  in  the  same  chapel,  as  they  are  equally  pictorial 
in  style,  and  like  Ghiberti  in  all  but  one  particular,  the  flatter 
treatment  of  planes.  In  this  Antonio  Eossellino  followed 
Donatello,  hut  otherwise  he  worked  after  the  manner  of  his 
rival.  His  circular  relief  at  the  Bargello  of  the  Madonna 
adoring  the  Infant  Jesus,  shows  this  even  more  markedly,  in 
the  gradual  flattening  of  the  relief  planes,  the  landscape  back- 
ground, the  sky,  and  the  treatment  of  figures  and  accessories 
in  persj)ective.*  However  skilfully  managed,  the  use  of  theso 
pictorial  artifices  in  sculpture,  here  borrowed  from  the  second 
gates  of  the  Baptistry,  cannot  be  defended.  In  the  busts  of 
Giovanni  di  San  Miniato,  doctor  of  laws  (1456),  at  South  Ken- 
sington, and  that  of  Matteo  Palmieri  (146S)  at  the  Bargello, 
Antonio  seized  and  expressed  the  character  of  his  subjects  with 
force  and  truth,  putting  into  them  that  extraordinary  vitality 
which  gives  a  unique  value  to  the  best  Florentine  heads  of  the 
fifteenth  century  in  terra-cotta  and  marble.  The  finest  single 
statue  by  this  sculptor  is  that  of  St.  Sebastian  in  a  niche  over 
an  altar  in  the  parochial  church  at  Empoli.  It  has  two 
kneeling  angels  with  the  emblems  of  martyrdom,  placed  above 
the  cornice,  like  those  above  the  sepulchral  effigy  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Portugal  at  San  Miniato. f 

Among  the  minor  works  of  Antonio  Eossellino,  we  have  yet 
to  mention  a  Madonna  and  Child,  enframed  with  cherubim,  in 
the  church  of  Sta.  Croce,  called  the  Madonna  della  Latte, 
which  formed  part  of  the  monument  ordered  by  Francesco 
Neri  for  himself,  before  he  fell  under  the  daggers  of  the 
Pazzi  conspirators  who  slew  Giovanni  de'  Medici  in  the  Cathe- 
dral on  the  26th  of  April,  1478.  As  this  is  the  last  year 
in  which  Antonio  Piossellino  is  recorded  as  a  tax-payer  in  the 
Guild  of  Sculptors,  it  is  probable  that  he  died  shortly  after, 
though  Vasari  says  that  he  lived  as  late  as  1490. 

*  The  fine  "  gesso  duro  "  of  this  relief  belonging  to  C.  Drury  Fortnuni, 
Esq.,  of  Stanmore,  which  is  in  some  respects  superior  to  the  marble, 
perhaps  represents  the  master's  original  conception. 

t  Dr.  AV.  Bode,  op.  cit.  p.  38,  speaks  of  this  statue  in  terms  of  hi^Vi 
praise. 


124    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptnre, 

BAKTOLOMEO  EELLANO  OR  VELLANO  (b.  ABOUT  1430, 

D.  1500  OR  1502). 

Among  the  young  artists  of  Padua  who  studied  under 
Donatello  during  his  sojourn  in  that  city,  was  Bartolomeo 
Bellano  or  Yellano,  who  was  neither  an  "  iueptus  artifex,"  as 
he  is  styled  hy  Gauricus,  nor  the  all-sufficient  representative  of 
Donatello  at  Padua,  after  that  great  artist  returned  home,  as 
Vasari  calls  him.  Judged  by  the  ten  bronze  bas-reliefs  which 
Bellano  modelled  and  cast  for  the  choir  of  San  Antonio, 
where  they  may  be  compared  on  the  spot  with  the  bronzes  of 
his  master,  and  of  his  own  distinguished  pupil,  Andrea 
Piiccio,  he  was  far  from  being  the  equal  of  either.*  They 
want  smoothness  and  firmness  of  texture,  and  that  delicate 
modulation  of  surface  treatment  which  gives  high  value  to  the 
best  Florentine  metal  work,  and  are  furthermore  overcrowded 
■with  figures,  ultra-pictorial  in  style,  faulty  in  perspective,  and 
wanting  in  repose.  A  description  of  one  of  these  bronze  pictures, 
representing  the  casting  of  Jonah  into  the  sea,  will  suffice  to 
justify  this  criticism,  as  it  is  applicable  to  all  the  rest.  The 
greater  part  of  the  panel  is  filled  with  the  ship,  heavily 
labouring  in  the  agitated  waves.  Her  decks,  shrouds,  and 
broken  masts  are  covered  with  a  mass  of  diminutive  figures  of 
equal  insignificance,  who  are  watching  the  fall  of  the  doomed 
prophet,  but  any  anxiety  as  to  his  safety  is  dispelled  by  seeing 
him  kneeling  in  prayer  below  the  lofty  rocks  which  rise  from 
the  sea  coast  in  the  background.  Here  we  can  find  no  trace  of 
Donatello's  influence,  and  must  suppose  that  if  Bellano  ever 
felt  it,  it  had  lost  its  power  over  him  in  the  lapse  of  j^ears. 

In  his  other  works,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  heraldic 
genii  in  niches  belonging  to  the  monument  of  Pietro  Eoccabo- 
nella  (1491),  in  the  church  of  San  Francesco  at  Padua,  it  is  as 
little  perceptible.  One  of  the  two  panels  belonging  to  this 
monument,  placed  on  either  side  of  the  high  altar,  represents 

*  Gonzati,  Doc.  82,  vol.  i.  \>.  90.  The  subjects  of  the  ten  reliefs,  for 
which  he  contracted  on  the  27tli  of  ISTovember,  1484-,  and  completed  in 
1488,  are: — 1.  Cain  and  Abel;  2.  Sacrifice  of  Isaac ;  3.  The  crossing  of 
the  Red  Sea;  4.  Adoration  of  the  Golden  Calf;  5.  Joseph  and  his 
brethren ;  6.  The  Bronze  Serpent ;  7.  Sampson  destroying  the  Temple ; 
8.  David  dancing  before  the  Ark ;  9.  Judgment  of  Solomon;  10.  Jonaru 


The  Scholars  of  Donatcllo.  125 

the  professor  seated  at  a  desk  with  a  book  in  his  hand ;  the 
other,  the  Madonna  and  Child  seated  under  a  canopy  between 
SS.  Peter  and  PauL  In  both  the  heads  are  disproportionately 
small  for  the  bodies,  and  the  hard-lined  draperies  cling  to  the 
limbs  in  square  patches.  That  Bellano  worked  as  architect  at 
Rome  for  Paul  II.,  as  stated  by  Vasari,  is  doubtful,  but  it  is 
certain  that  in  1466  he  cast  a  statue  of  this  Pontiff  for  Perugia, 
which  was  melted  down  to  make  copper  money  in  1798.*  The 
monuments  of  Antonio  Rossello,  and  of  Raffaele  Folgoso  in  the 
Basilica  of  San  Antonio  at  Padua,  as  well  as  the  medals  of 
Paul  II.,  Antonio  Eossello,  and  of  Plotina,  the  historian  of  the 
Popes,  are  ascribed  to  Bellano,  who  died  at  Padua  in  the  first 
years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  buried  at  San  Antonio. f 

Having  now  spoken  of  the  artists  classed  by  Yasari  as  the 
scholars  of  Donatello,  we  shall  mention  others  who  either  worked 
with  him  or  under  his  influence,  namely,  Francesco  Valenti  or 
del  Vagliante  of  Florence,  Antonio  Cellino  or  di  Chellino  of 
Pisa,  Giovanni  da  Pisa,  Urbano  da  Cortona,  Simone  Fiorentino, 
Bernardo  Ciuffagni,  Andrea  Verocchio,  and  Giovanni  di  Bar- 
tolo.  Of  these  the  first  four  assisted  Donatello  at  Padua 
between  1444  and  1449,  in  preparing  and  casting  the  series 
of  bronzes  with  which  he  decorated  the  Basilica  of  St.  Antonio. 
Francesco  Yalenti  and  Antouio  Cellino  being  goldsmiths,  were 
probably  employed  in  the  w^ork  of  cleaning  and  hammering  out 
the  surfaces  of  the  bronzes,  while  Urbano  da  Cortona  and 
Giovanni  da  Pisa  being  sculptors,  doubtless  assisted  in  model- 
ling and  casting  them.  The  latter  showed  himself  to  be  an 
able  sculptor  in  the  terra-cotta  figures  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child  with  three  saints,  over  an  altar  in  the  chapel  to  the 
right  of  the  high  altar  in  the  church  of  the  Eremitani  at 
Padua. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  Simone  Fiorentino,  in  the  life  of 
Donatello,  as  an  ambiguous  personage  whom  it  is  difficult  to 
identify.     Of  the  two  Simones  mentioned  by  Vasari,  the  one,  a 

*  Placed  on  its  pedestal  October  20, 1467.  The  decree  of  the  Perugians 
asking  it  to  be  made  is  dated  November  4,  1466. 

t  Gonzati,  o\-i.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  133.  The  monument  to  Paolo  de  Castro 
and  his  son  Angelo,  Professor  in  the  University  at  Padua,  in  the  church 
of  the  Padri  Serviti  at  Padua,  is  ascribed  to  Bellano  (1492).  The  Rocca- 
bonella  monument  at  San  Francisco  was  finished  by  Riccio  after  Bellano's 
death. 


* 


126    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpture, 

Bo-called  brother  of  Donatello,  cast  the  grave  slab  of  Pope 
Martin  V.  at  the  Lateran,  and  the  other,  a  scholar  of  Brunel- 
leschi,  who  sculptured  a  Madonna  at  Or  San  Michele,  and  cer- 
tain works  at  Tagliacozzo  left  incomplete  at  his  death,  the  last 
was  probably  the  Florentine  goldsmith  Simone  di  Giovanni 
Ghini,  born  in  1407,  who  assisted  Filareie  (Averiiliuo)  in 
casting  the  bronze  gates  of  St.  Peter's,  and  the  first,  Simone 
di  Nauni  Ferucci  da  Fiesole,*  pupil  of  Donatello,  and  co-worker 
with  Bernardo  di  Piero  Bartolomeo  de'  Ciufrugui  and  other 
sculptors  employed  by  Paudolfo  Malatesta  at  Eimini.  Bernardo 
de'  Ciuffagni,  who  was  born  at  Florence  in  1531,  and  educated 
as  a  goldsmith,  and  who  assisted  Ghiberti  in  casting  the  first 
Baptistry  Gate,  sculptured  the  statue  of  St.  Matthew  (1409-1415) 
in  the  tribune  of  the  Cathedral,  the  St.  Stephen  which  crowns 
the  gable  of  its  second  Northern  door  (1424),  and  the  King 
David  on  the  left  side  wall,  near  the  entrance. f  The  last  seven 
years  of  his  life,  which  came  to  an  end  in  1457,  were  spent  at 
Bimini,  in  the  service  of  Sigismund  Pandolfo  Malatesta,  who 
caused  the  church  of  San  Francesco,  or  the  Tempio  Malatestiano 
as  it  is  more  properly  called,  to  be  re-built  by  the  famous 
Florentine  architect  Leo  Battista  Alberti,  in  fulfilment  of  a 
vow.  So  far  as  he  completed  it  it  is  unquestionably  the  most 
perfect  of  neo-classical  buildings,  and  this  is  the  more  remark- 
able as  the  original  edifice,  which  he  transformed  into  a 
mausoleum  whose  every  detail  is  connected  with  its  founder 
and  his  wife,  the  celebrated  Isotta  degli  Atti,  was  in  the 
Gothic  style.  The  west  front  with  its  noble  arcL,  its  Corinthian 
columns,  its  broad  entablature  and  massive  cornice,  the  inter- 
laced cyphers  of  Sigismund  and  Isotta,  and  the  seven  bays 
of  the  lateral  facade,  each  of  which  contains  a  sarcophagus  of 
classic  design!  give  the  exterior  of  this  temple  a  Pagan  aspect 
which  is  not  dispelled  by  the  interior,  with  its  heathen  em- 
blems, its  medallions,  statues   and   bas-reliefs,   and  its  Greek 

*  This  Simone,  who  made  the  grave  slab  of  Pope  Martia  V.  at  the 
Lateran,  is  the  artist  designated  by  Vasari  as  Donatello'a  brother,  though 
he  had  no  brother  of  this  name.  He  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
Simone  di  Francesco,  pupil  of  Verocchio,  who  made  the  Turtagni 
monument  in  the  church  of  San  Domenico  at  Bologna,  1477. 

f  /See  Dr.  Hans  Semper's  notice  of  Ciuffagni  in  his  Donatello,  pp.  72-75. 

X  Illustrious  men  of  the  court  of  Eimini  are  buried  in  these  sar- 
cophagi. 


Sigismimd  and  Isotla.  127 

and  Latin  inscriptions.  As  wo  enter,  we  listen  for  the  boys' 
voices  and  the  soft  flutes  which  are  to  make  music  at  the  sacri- 
fice, and  watch  for  the  coming  of  the  chaplet-crowned  priests 
and  the  milk  white  heifer — 

"  Its  silken  flanks  with  garlands  drest," 

which  they  are  to  offer  up  to  the  god  and  goddess  of  Rimini, 
whose  statues — under  the  guise  of  SS.  Sigismund  and  Michael 
— look  down  upon  us  from  their  altars. 

None  perhaps  among  the  Italian  princes  of  the  quattro-cento 
united  in  himself  so  many  of  the  typical  virtues  and  vices  of  his 
class,  as  the  prince  here  deified.  Brave  to  a  fault,  highly  cultured, 
the  liberal  patron  of  arts  and  letters,  though  cruel,  sensual,  and 
crafty,  he  is  said  to  have  strangled  his  second  wife  Polixena 
Sforza  for  love  of  Isotta,  who  maintained  her  power  over  him, 
not  through  her  beauty,  for,  judging  from  the  many  medals*  and 
portraits  of  her  in  existence-]-  she  was  far  from  handsome,  but 
by  her  strong  character  and  determined  will.  Contemporary 
poets  and  chroniclers  exalt  her  as  the  peer  of  Helen  in  beauty, 
of  Sappho  in  poetical  gifts,  of  Penelope  in  constancy,  and  of 
Hypatia  in  her  knowledge  of  physics  and  moral  philosophy, 
but  these  are  either  wholly  folse  or  grossly  exaggerated  state- 
ments. The  researches  of  her  latest  biographer  lead  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  famous  woman  did  not  know  how  to 
write,  but  they  also  prove  that  she  had  remarkable  political 
ability,  that  she' was  a  wise  and  judicious  counsellor  to  her  hus- 
band, and  that  she  often  saved  him  from  the  consequences  of  his 
headlong  impetuosity  and  brutal  violence,  J  She  became  Domina 
Isotta  de'  Malatestis,  the  legal  wife  of  Sigismund,  in  1457,  after 
seventeen  years  of  concubinage  ;  repeatedly  acted  as  regent  of 
his  dominions  in  his  absence,  and,  surviving  him,  ruled  over 
Pdmini  for  several  years  before  she  died,  as  it  is  said  of  poison, 
in  the  year  1470. 

*  Eight  in  number;  seven  by  Matteo  de'  Pasti,  and  one  by  Pisanello. 

t  A  marble  bust  by  Mino  da  Fiesole,  in  the  Camjio  Santo  at  Pisa;  a 
bust  in  wood  belonging  to  the  Barker  collection  at  London,  and  a  bas- 
relief  now  lost,  of  which  an  engraving  is  given  in  Mazzuchelli.  A  por- 
trait by  Pievo  dell  a  Francesca,  in  the  National  Gallery,  is  mentioned 
in  the  catalogue  as  a  likeness  of  Isotta. 

X  Un  conclutticre  an  XV'  Siecle :  Rimini,  Etude,  etc.,  par  M.  Ch. 
S'riarte.  ■  Paris,  Rothschild.     See  Appendix,  letter  N. 


128    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Letters  in  the  archives  at  Siena,  found  by  M.  Charles  Yriarte, 
throw  much  light  upon  affairs  at  Eimini  during  the  construc- 
tion of  the  church  of  San  Francesco,  as  they  were  written  to 
Sigismund,  in  order  to  keep  him  acquainted  with  affairs  at 
home,  while  he  was  defending  the  Sienese  against  the  Count 
of  Pittigliano.  The  j'ear  of  his  absence,  1454,  was  that  of  the 
decoration  of  the  temple,  and  various  names  of  jiersons  con- 
cerned in  it  are  given  in  these  letters — one  of  whom,  Maestro 
Agostino,  cited  in  connection  with  a  sarcophagus  of  the 
"Antenati"  in  the  chapel  of  Sigismund's  ancestors,  is  sup- 
posed by  M.  Yriarte  to  be  Agostino  di  Duccio  or  Guccio,  called 
also  Fiorenza,  of  whom  more  anon,  and  another,  '*  Matteo  de' 
Bastia,"  is  undoubtedly  the  famous  Matteo  de'  Pasti,  whose 
admirable  medals  have  made  the  features  of  Sigismund  and 
Isotta  so  familiar  to  us. 

In  examining  the  sculptures  we  have  to  consider  the  four 
names  of  Simone  Fioreutino,  Bernardo  Ciuffagni,  Agostino  di 
Antonio  di  Duccio,  and  Matteo  de'  Pas^i  as  those  of  the 
artists  with  whom  a  few  of  the  marbles  may  be  identified  with 
some  approach  to  certainty,  though  these  are  exceptions.*  Of 
such  are  the  statue  of  Isotta  under  the  guise  of  St.  Michael 
over  an  altar  in  one  of  the  chapels,  and  that  of  St.  Sigismund 
in  his  chapel,  both  probably  by  Ciuffagni.  The  latter  as  Dr. 
Semper  observes,  resembles  this  artist's  Evangelist  at  Florence, 
both  in  the  pose,  and  the  hard,  lifeless  treatment  of  the  robe 
and  the  bead.-]-  Another  sculptor  of  far  greater  ability,  evidently 
brought  up  in  Douatello's  school,  sculptured  the  mannered 
angels  in  flat  relief  upon  the  walls  of  the  same  chapel.  The 
complicated  folds  of  their  flying  draperies,  and  the  flowing  out- 
lines of  their  forms  are  treated  with  such  facility  and  sweep  of 

*  Vasari,  ed.  Milauesi,  vol.  ii.  p.  169,  says  that  Liica  della  Kobbia,  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  went  to  Rimini  to  work  for  Malatesta  in  the  church 
of  San  Francesco.  This  is  manifestly  impossible,  as  Luca  was  fifteen 
years  old  in  1416,  and  the  church  was  commenced  in  1457.  Vittore 
Pisanello,  the  medallist,  has  also  been  mentioned  among  the  sculptors  at 
Eimini,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  ever  worked  in  marble.  His  two 
medals  of  Pandolfo  Malatesta  were  executed  before  1445,  after  which 
year  he  left  Rimini,  and  was  succeeded  as  medallist  to  its  Lord  by 
Matteo  de'  Pasti.  See  ies  Medailleicrs  de  la  Renaissance.  Vittore 
Pisano,  par  Alexis  Heis,  p.  21. 

t  Op.  cit.  p.  73. 


Agostino  di  Ditccio.  129 

band,  that  tlicy  appear  to  have  been  drawn  rather  than  sculptui'ed 
upon  the  stone,  and  it  seems  not  improbable  that  they  arc  the 
work  of  Agostino  di  Antonio  di  Duccio  do'  Mugnoni,  who  has 
been  very  incorrectly  classed  in  the  school  of  Luca  della  Robbia, 
instead  of  that  of  Donatello,  to  which  he  properly  belonged.* 
Born  at  Florence  in  1418,  the  son  of  a  weaver  named  Antonio, 
this  artist  is  best  known  to  us  by  the  beautiful  facade  of  the 
church  of  San  Bernardino  at  Perugia  (1467),  which  he  built 
and  enriched  with  terra- cottas  and  parti-coloured  marbles. 

In  the  lunette  of  the  great  arch  which  forms  its  chief  archi- 
tectural feature,  San  Bernardino  is  represented  in  a  glory  of 
flaming  tongues,  attended  by  angels  playing  on  musical  instru- 
ments. The  reliefs  upon  the  architrave,  which  are  notably 
realistic  in  style  and  peculiarly  naive  in  sentiment,  relate  to 
incidents  in  the  life  of  the  Saint,  while  the  single  figures  and 
groups  upon  the  pilasters  portray  angels  with  instruments  of 
music,  and  virtues,  one  of  whom,  Chastity,  a  female  form  veiled 
in  a  flowing  robe,  has  a  branch  of  lilies  in  her  hand.  These 
charming  works,  as  w^ell  as  the  arabesques  and  ornaments  pro- 
fusely scattered  about  the  flat  spaces  of  the  facade,  are  treated 
in  plane  surfaces,  and  conceived  in  that  spirit  which  accepts  and 
makes  use  of  common  nature  without  regard  to  beauty.  If  Agos- 
tino learned  the  art  of  making  vitrified  terra-cottas  in  the  work- 
shop of  Luca  della  Bobbia,  as  Vasari  would  have  us  believe,  he 
treated  it  in  his  own  peculiar  way  under  the  unmistakable  in- 
fluence of  Donatello.  As  the  angels  in  the  chapel  at  Rimini, 
which  may  reasonably  be  attributed  to  him,  are  in  marble,  and 
of  great  size,  they  do  not  recall  his  work  at  Perugia,  but  we 
do  not  attach  importance  to  this  in  weighing  his  claims  to  the 
authorship  of  both,  as  the  difference  may  be  attributed  to  diver- 
sity of  material,  of  process  and  of  dimension. f 

Proceeding  now  with  our  identification  of  the  marbles  at  San 
Francesco,  we  come  to  those  possibly  scul^itured  by  Matteo  de' 

*  Vasavi,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  ii.  p.  177. 

t  Other  works  by  Agostino  di  Duccio  are  the  ornaments  about  the 
door  of  S.  Pietro,  the  glazed  terra-cottas  at  S.Dominico,  Perugia  (1459), 
and  four  relief's  from  the  life  of  San  Giinignano,  on  the  fa9ade  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Modena  (14-12).  A  bas-relief  in  the  Archajological  Museum 
at  Milan,  and  a  bronze  relief  of  the  Crucifixion  once  attributed  to 
Antonio  del  Pollajuolo,  are  ascribed  to  the  same  artist  by  M.  C.  Yriarte. 

E 


130    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Pasti.  Among  them  we  should  class  the  medallion  portraits  of 
Sigismund  Pandolfo  upon  the  pilasters  which  flank  the  entrance 
to  the  chapel  of  his  ancestors,  and  the  children  riding  on  dol- 
phins in  the  second  chapel  on  the  left  hand.*  These  attribu- 
tions are  founded  on  the  knowledge  which  we  have  of  the  ad- 
mirable medals  of  this  artist,  who  was  born  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  like  Pisauello,  his  master,  was  a 
Veronese.  "We  learn  that  he  was  living  at  Eimini  in  1453,  by  a 
letter  written  from  that  citv  to  Sigismund  Pandolfo,  in  which 
he  is  mentioned,  but  as  among  his  medals  of  this  Prince,  of 
Isotta,  and  of  several  illustrious  Riminese,  all  save  one  are 
dated  in  1446-7  and  50,  he  may  have  been  already  a  resident 
there  for  some  years  when  the  letter  was  penned,  and  he  prob- 
ably remained  there  as  late  as  1463.  We  do  not  recognize 
him  as  the  sculptor  of  the  elaborately  decorated  marble  sai'co- 
phagus  in  the  Chapel  of  the  "  Antennati,"  which  contains  the 
bones  of  Sigismund's  ancestors,  who  as  the  founders  of  the 
house  of  Malatesta,  are  represented  in  its  bas-reliefs,  grouped 
around  Minerva.  Sigismund  appears  among  them,  mounted  on 
a  triumphal  car  preceded  by  prisoners  with  their  arms  bound 
behind  their  backs. 

The  sarcophagus  is,  perhaps,  by  Simone  di  Nanni,  but  we  are 
unable  to  ofi"er  any  conjecture  as  to  the  sculptor  of  the  statuettes 
in  niches  upon  the  pilasters  which  flank  the  entrance  to  the 
chapel  in  which  it  stands,  or  of  the  eighteen  allegorical  bas- 
reliefs  of  agriculture,  ethics,  metaphysics,  poetry,  history,  &c., 
upon  the  pilasters  at  the  entrance  to  another  chapel  in  the 
church.  The  fanciful  mottoes  inscribed  upon  them  contain 
allusions  to  the  Lord  of  Rimini,  and  his  beloved  Isotta. 


GIOVANNI   DI   BARTOLO. 

Giovanni  di  Bartolo,  called  Rosso,  whom  Yasari  classes 
among  the  scholars  of  Donatello,  was  attached  to  the  Cathe- 
dral at  Florence  from  1419  to  1423,  and  sculptured  the  statue 
of  the  Prophet  Obadiah,  which  fills  a  niche  in  the  second  story 
of  the  Campanile.  The  other  three  statues  in  adjoining  niches 
are  by  Donatello,  and  this  would  seem  to  be  why  Vasari  asso- 

*  See  Die  Italianischen  schaumiinzen,  by  J.  Friedlander.     Jahrhuch 
der  K.  K.  P.  Kunstsammlungen,  Ersterbatid,  supplement  heft.  pp.  263-4. 


Andrea  del   Verrocchio.  131 

ciated  them  together,  as  Giovanni,  if  we  may  judge  him  by  the 
ultra-pictorial  and  scenic  monument  of  the  Brenzoni,  inscribed 
with  his  name  (1420),  in  San  Fernio  Maggiore  at  Verona, 
had  no  affinity  with  the  great  Tuscan  sculptor.  The  monu- 
ment which  resembles  certain  Venetian  tombs  in  style,  has  no 
Tuscan  features  about  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  tent-like 
drapery  held  back  by  angels,  which  it  has  in  common  with 
them.  The  canopy  shelters  a  sarcophagus,  from  which  an 
angel  with  apparent  effort  rolls  back  a  stone,  while  a  risen 
Christ  with  a  banner  in  his  hand  stands  on  the  lid.  Three 
sleeping  guards  in  armour,  one  of  whom  has  his  back  turned 
to  the  spectator,  lie  upon  rocks  in  the  foreground  below  the 
sarcophagus,  at  each  end  of  which  are  torch-bearing  angels  of 
a  Venetian  type.  The  whole  structure  rests  upon  a  heavy  and 
overloaded  console,  placed  against  the  wall.  Were  it  not  for 
the  inscription,  which  leaves  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  its  author, 
we  should  question  the  possibility  of  this  tomb's  having  been 
sculptured  by  a  Florentine  sculptor  of  the  early  Renaissance 
period, 

Giovanni  di  Bartolo,  who  adorned  the  great  portal  of  the 
church  of  San  Niccolo  at  Tolentino  with  sculptures  in  1431, 
is  mentioned  for  the  last  time  in  the  year  1451,  in  connection 
with  a  statue  which  he  had  blocked  out  at  Carrara.* 

ANDREA    DEL   VERROCCHIO. 

(1435-1488.) 

The  works  of  Andrea  di  Michele  di  Francesco  Clone,  called 
Verrocchio,  show  so  little  trace  of  Donatello's  influence,  that  al- 
though the  fact  is  well  authenticated  we  find  it  difficult  to  believe 
that  they  ever  stood  in  the  relation  of  pupil  and  master  to  each 
other.!  Born  at  Florence  in  1435,  Andrea  was  early  apprenticed 
to  Giuliano  Verrocchio,  a  goldsmith,  from  whom  he  took  the 
name  of  Verrocchio,  which  is  generally  said  to  have  been  given 
him  on  account  of  his  wonderful  correctness  of  eye.     "We  can 

*  Vasari,  ed.  Milancsi,  vol.  ii.  p.  40t,  note  2. 

t  It  is  offirmed  by  Baldlnucci,  on  the  strength  of  a  MS.  in  the  Strozzi 
library,  which  he  discovered  and  examined.  Another  MS.  cited  by 
Mihmcsi,  ed.  Vasari,  vol.  iii.  p.  358,  note  1,  affirms  the  same  fact,  and 
states  that  Andrea  assisted  Donatello  in  making  the  fountain  in  the 
Sacristy  of  Saa  Lorenzo 

k2 


132    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

form  no  idea  of  the  skill  in  the  goldsmitli's  art  which  gained 
him  a  place  heside  Ghiberti  and  IMaso  Finiguerra,  as  his  altars 
and  reliquaries  adorned  with  metal  M'ork,  his  chased  cope- 
buttons,  his  vases  covered  with  animals  and  foliage  in  relief, 
and  his  cups  ornamented  with  groups  of  dancing  children,  have 
disappeared,  together  with  the  silver  statuettes  of  the  twelve 
Apostles,  which  he  made  for  Pope  Sixtus  IV.*  Of  all  the  pre- 
cious objects  of  this  class,  in  the  fashioning  of  which  he  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life,  none  remains  save  the  silver  bas- 
relief  of  the  beheading  of  St.  John,  which  he  made  for  the  altar 
of  the  Baptistry  at  Florence  (1477).  As  little  can  we  judge  of 
his  ability  as  a  painter  from  his  one  picture  of  the  Baptism  of 
our  Lord  in  the  Accademia  at  Florence,  which  is  so  hard  in 
line,  dry  in  style,  and  wanting  in  expression,  that  we  are 
inclined  to  give  credence  to  the  story,  related  by  Vasari,  that 
hurt  by  being  outdone  by  his  boy-pupil  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  who 
had  painted  the  golden-haired  angel  in  its  left-hand  corner,  he 
gave  up  painting  and  thenceforth  devoted  himself  to  sculpture. 
After  the  death  of  Donatello  (14GS)  Verrocchio  completed 
the  fountain  which  he  had  commenced  at  San  Lorenzo,  cast  a 
bronze  ball  to  surmount  the  cupola  of  the  Duomo  (1471),  and 
between  1469  and  1472  made  the  monument  of  Piero  and 
Giovanni  de'  Medici  (sons  of  the  great  Cosmo)  for  the  sacristy 
of  San  Lorenzo,  which  consists  of  a  porphyry  sarcophagus, 
decorated  with  bronze  ornaments  of  great  elegance,  placed 
beneath  an  arch,  whose  recess  is  filled  in  with  a  network  of 
bronze  cordage.f  About  1473  Verrocchio  was  at  Eome,  work- 
ing upon  a  monument  to  Selvaggia  di  Marco  dogli  Alessandri, 
wife  of  Francesco  Tornabuoni,  a  Florentine  merchant,  for  the 
church  of  Sta.  Maria-sopra-Minerva.t  Nothing  of  it  exists  save 
one  bas-relief  now  in  the  Bargello  at  Florence,  whose  expressive 
excellence  is  marred  by  a  hard  style,  angularity  of  action,  ex- 
aggeration of  sentiment,  and  the  abrupt  treatment  of  draperies. 
It  represents  Selvaggia  dying  in  child-bed.     Supported  by  her 

*  1471-1484.  They  were  stolen  from  the  Pontifical  Chapel  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  (Vasari,  vol.  v.  p.  141,  note  1). 

t  Finished  in  1472.  The  bodies  of  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano,  who  ordered 
it,  were  removed  to  it  in  1559. 

X  This  Francesco  Tornabuoni,  who  was  made  ambassador  to  Venice  in 
1420,  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  another  person  of  the  same  name 
■who  died  at  Borne  in  1513  (Litta,  Articolo  Tornahunni,  vol.  ji.  tav.  102). 


Andrea  del  Verrocchio.  133 

attendants,  she  reclines  upon  a  couch  surrounded  by  her  rela- 
tives and  friends,  one  of  whom  tears  her  hair  in  an  agony  of 
grief,  while  another  crouches  in  silent  despair  upon  the  ground 
with  her  head  enveloped  in  the  folds  of  a  thick  mantle. 

After  his  return  to  Florence,  Verrocchio  modelled  and  cast  the 
bronze  statue  of  David  (1470)  at  the  Bargello,  which  though 
meagre  in  outline  and  wanting  in  sentiment,  is  fall  of  life  and 
animation.  The  type  of  face  is  thoroughly  Lionardesque,  the 
head  is  covered  with  clustering  curls,  and  the  body  is  protected 
by  a  light  corselet.  The  very  carefully  studied  left  hand  rests 
upon  the  hip,  and  the  right  grasps  a  sword,  with  which  the 
3'oung  hero  is  about  to  cut  off  the  head  of  his  fallen  enemy. 
More  charming  than  the  David,  and  equally  living,  is  the  boy 
holding  a  dolphin  in  his  arms,  which  Verrocchio  made  for 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  to  decorate  a  fountain  at  the  villa  Careggi. 
This  bronze,  one  of  the  gems  of  Florence,  now  adorns  a  foun- 
tain in  the  cortile  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  and  like  a  straggling 
sunbeam  brightens  the  gloomy  precincts  with  its  presence. 

Besides  his  more  important  works,  our  artist  sculptured  many 
crucifixes  that  were  highly  esteemed  and  eagerly  sought  after, 
and  modelled  many  wax  figures,  which,  robed  in  the  costume 
of  the  day,  were  placed  in  churches  as  "ex  votos."*  In  this 
branch  of  art  Verrocchio  deserves  especial  praise,  for  although 
dealing  with  perishable  materials,  he  treated  them  with  con- 
scientious care.  He  is  also  to  be  remembered  for  having  intro- 
duced the  fashion  of  taking  casts  in  plaster  of  hands,  feet,  and 
other  natural  objects  for  purposes  of  study,  and  in  this  he  was 
imitated  by  many,  who,  says  Vasari,  also  cast  heads  of  the  dead 
at  a  small  expense,  in  such  numbers  that  they  are  to  be  seen 
**  over  the  chimney-pieces,  doors,  windows,  and  cornices  of 
every  house  in  Florence."  f 

The  last  work  upon  which  we  know  Verrocchio  to  have  been 
engaged  was  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  celebrated  Condottiere 

*  The  soubriquet  of  Falllmagini,  or  "  Del  Cerajuolo,"  borne  by  the 
Benintendi  family  in  token  of  their  profession,  proves  that  such  images 
had  been  made  in  Florence  before  Verrocchio's  day  (Del  Migliore,  Flrenze 
Ulust,  Bibliotheca  Magliabecchiana,  MS.)-  These  figures  resembled 
those  which  tlie  Eomans,  who  had  obtained  the  "jus  imaginum,"  were 
accustomed  to  place  in  the  "  atria"  of  their  houses. 

t  See  Vasari,  vol.  v.  p.  152,  note  2,  and  Appendix,  letter  0. 


134    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

Bartolomeo  Coleoni,  captain-general  of  the  Venetian  forces, 
who  died  at  Bergamo  (1476),  leaving  his  silver,  furniture, 
arms,  horses,  and  the  sum  of  216,000  gold  florins  to  the  re- 
public of  Venice,  on  condition  that  his  equestrian  statue  should 
be  set  up  in  the  square  of  St.  Mark.*  This  condition  caused 
no  little  embarrassment  to  the  Signory,  as  an  old  law  forbade 
that  the  Piazza  should  be  in  any  way  encumbered,  but  it  was 
suggested  that  the  square  of  the  School  of  St.  Mark,  which 
adjoins  the  church  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  would  sufficiently 
fulfil  the  letter  if  not  the  intent  of  the  testament,  as  a  site. 

In  1479  Verrocchio  came  to  Venice  at  the  request  of  the 
Signory  to  undertake  the  work,  and  had  already  modelled  the 
horse,  when  a  report  reached  him  that  Donatello's  scholar, 
Bellano  of  Padua,  was  to  make  its  rider.  Indignant  at  this 
intended  insult,  he  instantly  broke  the  head  and  legs  of  the 
horse  in  pieces,  and  returned  to  Florence,  where  a  decree  of 
the  Senate  reached  him  forbidding  him  under  pain  of  death 
ever  to  set  foot  upon  Venetian  territory.  To  this  injunction 
he  replied  that  he  would  never  incur  the  risk,  as  he  was  aware 
that  if  his  head  were  once  cut  off,  the  Signory  could  neither  put 
it  on  again  nor  supply  its  place,  though  he  could  at  any  time 
advantageously  replace  the  head  of  his  horse.  Struck  with  the 
truth  of  this  answer,  the  Venetians  invited  him  to  resume  his 
"work  with  double  pay,  and  a  pledge  that  he  should  not  again  be 
in  any  way  interfered  with.  He  accordingly  returned  to  Venice 
in  1488,  and  had  begun  to  restore  his  broken  model,  when  he 
was  attacked  by  a  violent  illness  which  speedily  carried  him  to 
his  grave.  How  much,  or  rather  how  little,  of  his  task  was 
then  completed,  is  clearly  shown  in  the  passage  of  his  Will  in 
which  he  supplicates  the  Signory  to  allow  his  scholar,  Lorenzo 
di  Credi,  to  finish  the  horse  which  he  had  commenced.!  Instead 
of  complying  with  this  request,  they  commissioned  Alessandro 
Leopardi,  a  Venetian  sculptor,  j  to  complete  the  group,  whose 
ample    forms    markedly  contrast    with   the    generally    meagre 

*  Sanuto's  Diary,  vol.  xxii.  p.  1203 ;  Muratori,  It.  Rer. 

t  "  PJtiam  relinquo  opus  equi  per  me  principiati "  (Gaye,  vol.  i.  p,  369). 
This  will  was  lately  discovered  in  tlie  Riccardiana  library  at  Florence. 

J  Leopardi  was  recalled  from  banishment  (to  which  he  had  been  con- 
demned for  forgeryj  in  1490.  "  Ut  tali  mcdo  possit  pcrncere  equuvi  et 
statuam  111.  Bart,  de  Collionibus,  jam  cum  mnlta  laude  cceptam  "  (Cicogna, 
op.  cit. ;  Reumont,  of.  cit.  vol.  vi.  p.  367,  note  38). 


Andrea  del  Verrocchio.  135 

character  of  the  Tuscan  sculptor's  work.  This  leads  us  to  con- 
clude that  Leopardi  gave  himself  full  liberty  in  the  matter,  and 
to  regard  him  as  the  chief  author  of  the  finest  of  all  modern 
equestrian  statues,  as  the  Venetians  did  when  they  gave  him 
the  surname  of  "del  Cavallo." '"^ 

Clad  in  armour,  with  a  helmet  upon  his  head,  the  rider,  who 
perfectly  embodies  the  idea  which  history  gives  us  of  an  Italian 
Condottiere,  sits  straight  in  his  saddle,  as  his  horse  with  arched 
neck  moves  slowly  forward.  His  stern  countenance  is  marked 
with  deep-set  eyes,  whose  steady  intensity  of  expression  reveals 
an  iron  will  (see  woodcut.  Book  III.)  and  the  severity  of  his 
appearance  is  happily  set  ofi"  by  the  rich  detail  lavished  upon 
the  saddle,  the  breast-plate,  the  crupper,  and  the  knotted  mane 
of  his  steed,  and  by  the  very  elegant  pedestal  upon  which 
Leopardi  raised  the  group,  giving  it  the  noblest  possible  effect. 

Between  the  intervals  of  Verrocchio's  first  and  second  visit 
to  Venice  (1488),  he  finished  the  bronze  group  representing  the 
Incredulity  of  St.  Thomas,  begun  many  years  before,  to  fill  a 
niche  on  the  outside  of  Or  San  Michele.f     The  faces  of  our 

*  "Would  the  Signory  have  talked  of  appointing  Vellano  of  Padua  to 
make  the  figure  of  Coleoni  if  Verrocchio  had  ah-eady  modelled  it?  and 
would  he  only  have  spoken  in  his  Will  of  the  horse  as  "  commenced  "  had 
it  been  completed?  Would  Alessandro  Leopardi  have  been  allowed  to 
engrave  his  name  upon  the  work  without  reference  to  Verrocchio,  or  been 
ever  after  styled  Alessandi-o  del  Cavallo,  had  he  not  been  generally  acknow- 
ledged as  its  author?  This  "  vexata  qutestio  "  is  imiiortant  to  settle  as 
far  as  possible,  as  Leopardi  is  usually,  and  it  seems  unjustly,  spoken  of 
as  the  humble  partner  of  Verrocchio's  glory,  whereas,  for  the  above  rea- 
sons, he  appears  to  deserve  the  lion's  share.  Cav.  P.  Zandomenighi,  in  a 
discourse  pronounced  before  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti  at  Venice 
(p.  17),  says  that  the  original  registers  of  the  Council  of  Ten,  of  Luca 
Paciolo  and  M.  Sanuto,  "  per  quest  opera  non  nominano  e  non  lodano 
che  il  nostro  Alessandro."  Vide  Iscrhioni  Veneti,  Fasc.  p.  209,  1858. 
Sansovino  (Venezia  Descritta,  p.  61)  says  Verrocchio  made  the  group. 
Temanza  {Vite  de  Pitt.  etc.  p.  110)  says  that  the  description  upon  the 
Burcingle,  under  the  horse's  belly,  "  A.  Leopardi  P.,"  proves  that  Leopardi 
cast  it  after  Verrocchio's  design  ;  F.  meaning  fudit  and  not  fecit.  The 
inscription  upon  Leoi^ardi's  tomb  in  Santa  Maria  dell'  Orto  speaks  of  him 
as  the  maker  of  the  pedestal.  Sanuto  says  that  the  statue  was  originally 
gilded  (Cicogna,  Iscriz.  Ven.  vol.  ii.  p.  299). 

t  In  1466  Verrocchio  received  this  commission.  Jan.  15,  1467,  he  re- 
ceived 300  lire  in  advance.  March  26,  14S1,  the  magistrates  set  aside 
forty  gold  florins  and  200  lire  for  its  completion.  In  April,  1484,  when 
it  was  nearly  comDleted    the  whole  sum  which  he  was  to  receive  (viz. 


136    Histo7ncal  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlphtre, 

Lord,  and  of  the  Apostle  who  leans  forward  to  thrust  his  hand 
into  the  wound  in  his  Master's  side,  are  expressive,  and  the 
composition  of  the  group  is  excellent,  but  the  draperies  are 
heavy,  and  their  folds  angular  in  line.'''^' 

Verrocchio  resemhled  his  great  pupil  Lionardo  da  Vinci  in 
the  multiplicity  of  his  talents,  hut  no  comparison  can  he  insti- 
tuted between  his  dry  uninspired  manner,  and  the  divine  style 
of  his  scholar,  to  whom  all  arts  and  sciences  were  equally 
familiar.  That  Lionardo  was  an  accomplished  sculptor  there 
can  he  no  doubt,  else  he  would  not  have  been  commissioned 
to  model  and  cast  the  equestrian  statue  of  Francesco  Sforza 
by  the  Duke  of  Milan,  who  called  him  to  his  court  in  1483, 
made  him  director  of  the  Ducal  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  and 
member  of  the  committee  of  architects  charged  with  the  build- 
ing of  the  Cathedral.  During  fourteen  years  Lionardo  was 
more  or  less  occupied  with  the  statue  of  the  illustrious  founder 
of  his  patron's  house,  for  which  he  not  only  made  an  infinite 
quantity  of  designs,  but  also  executed  two  perfect  models  of 
full  size,  one  in  a  classical,  the  other  in  a  modern  and  pic- 
turesque style.  The  first  of  these  is  probably  represented  in 
the  frontispiece  of  a  little  MS.  volume  preserved  in  the  National 
Library  at  Paris,  written  by  the  Cremonese  Bartolomeo  Gam- 
bagnola,  and  entitled  "  Gesti  di  Francesco  Sforza." f  It  re- 
presents the  hero  armed  from  head  to  foot,  seated  upon  a 
heavy  but  carefully  studied  horse,  and  holding  in  his  right 
hand  a  baton  which  rests  upon  his  saddle-bow.  One  can  well 
understand  that  such  a  design  could  not  satisfy  Lionardo,  whose 
genius  demanded  something  of  a  more  original  and  vigorous 
type,  and  accordingly  in  the  year  1490,  as  he  himself  tells  us 
in  a  note  written  on  the  cover  of  his  treatise  upon  Chiaroscuro, 

400  florins)  was  agreed  upon;  and  it  was  decided  that  the  group  should  be 
set  in  its  place  on  the  Feast  of  St.  John  {Beitrdge  zur  It.  Geschichte,  von 
A.  von  Reumont,  vol.  vi.  pp.  34-8  et  seq.). 

*  Both  Verrocchio  and  Poliajuolo  sent  in  designs  for  the  monument  of 
Cardinal  Fortiguerri,  which  was  erected,  probably  after  the  design  of  the 
latter,  by  Lorenzo  Lotti  and  Guido  Mazzoni,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Pistoja. 
The  figure  of  Hope,  and  the  bas-relief  of  God  the  Father  are,  however, 
attributed  to  Verrocchio.  The  original  model,  in  terra-cotta,  is  at  the 
South  Kensington  Museum. 

t  Ancien  Fonds,  petit  in  folio.  No.  9941.  An  account  of  this  MS.,  by 
M.  Ch.  Clement,  may  be  found  in  the  Bevue  dcs  Deux  Mondes,  April,  1860. 


Lionardo  da   Vinci.  137 

he  modelled  another  group  of  a  fighting  warrior,  reining  in  a 
fiery  horse  over  the  hody  of  a  struggling  soldier.  In  the  four- 
teen sketches  which  he  made  before  finally  reaching  his  ideal, 
he  drew  the  warrior  and  his  horse  in  various  attitudes — both 
with  and  without  the  fallen  soldier— and  made  careful  studies 
of  the  horse's  body,  divided  as  if  for  casting  in  bronze.* 

The  full  si2:ed  model  which  he  completed  before  1493,  was 
placed  on  the  top  of  a  triumphal  arch  raised  in  the  Piazza  del 
Castello  in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  Bianca  Maria  Sforza  and 
the  Emperor  Maximilian,  but  its  casting  was  deferred  for  various 
reasons  till  a  more  favourable  time.  Lionardo  was  occupied 
in  painting  the  fresco  of  the  Last  Supper,  and  his  patron  taken 
up  with  those  financial  and  political  embarrassments  which  cul- 
minated in  his  overthrow  by  Louis  XII.  of  France,  who  seized 
upon  Milan  in  1499,  and  sent  him  to  pass  the  last  ten  years  of 
his  life  in  imprisonment  at  Amboise.  It  has  commonly  been  said 
that  Louis,  being  unable  to  rise  above  his  hatred  of  the  Sforza 
out  of  admiration  for  a  great  work  of  art,  allowed  his  soldiers 
to  use  Lionardo's  model  as  a  target,  but  this  seems  disproved 
by  a  letter  from  Hercules  I.,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  dated  Sept. 
1501,  to  Giovanni  Valla,  his  agent  at  Milan,  requesting  him  to 
ask  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen,  then  governor  of  the  city,  to  cede 
to  him  the  model  of  a  horse  made  by  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  that 
he  may  have  it  cast  in  bronze  for  an  equestrian  statue  of  him- 
self which  he  intends  to  set  up  at  Ferrara.  Nothing  is  known 
of  the  issue  of  the  negotiations  or  of  the  subsequent  fate  of  the 
model,  but  the  memory  of  Lionardo's  equestrian  statue  has 
survived  its  destruction,  and  made  his  name  in  sculpture,  as  in 
all  other  arts,  a  synonyme  of  perfection. f 

*  The  volume  containing  these  sketches  is  preserved  in  the  Koyal 
Library  at  Windsor.  It  is  entitled  Disegni  di  L.  da  Vinci  restaurati  da 
Pompeo  Leoni.  Mr.  Smith,  English  consnl  at  Venice,  purchased  it  for 
King  George  III.  This  precious  volume  contains  236  loaves  mounted 
on  blue  paper.  It  probably  came  into  the  hands  of  Pompeo  Leoni  after 
the  death  of  Guido  Mazzenta,  a  Milanese  engineer,  who  possessed  thirteen 
rolumes  of  Lionardo's  MSS.,  given  him  by  Orazio  Melzi,  in  1590.  Melzi 
ifterwards  took  back  ten  of  these  volumes,  which  he  gave  to  King  Philip 
of  Spain  ;  the  other  three  came  into  the  hands  of  Pompeo.  At  p.  ICO  of 
the  Cabinet  de  VAniatettr,  for  1861,  M.  Piot  has  published  ]\razzenta'8 
own  account  of  these  MSS.,  from  the  original  MS.  which  belonged  to 
M.  Ambrose  Firmin  Didot. 

t  Lomazzo,  in  his  Trattato  delV  Arch,  etc.,  lib.  ii.  ch.  viii.  p.  213,  de- 


138    Historical  Handbook  of  Italiaji  Sctdpttire. 

Bcribes  a  terra-cotta  head  of  the  Infant  Christ  by  Lionardo,  iu  his  own 
possession.  M.  le  Baron  Eattier,  of  Paris,  has  ia  his  collection  a  bas- 
relief  inscribed  Publius  Scipio,  which  from  its  general  resemblance  to  the 
superb  drawing  of  the  head  of  a  warrior  among  the  Lionardo  drawings 
at  Windsor,  has  been  attributed  to  Lionardo.  The  faces  of  the  two  are 
so  unlike  that  we  cannot  believe  the  relief  to  be  by  the  great  master.  In 
the  drawing  the  strongly  marked  lips  and  protruding  chin  conform  to  a 
type  frequently  repeated  by  Lionardo,  while  in  the  marble  the  features 
are  regular,  and  the  expression  of  the  face  is  placid.  As  a  work  of  art, 
however,  the  bas-relief  is  masterly,  and  the  winged  head  of  War  in  very 
low  relief  upon  the  breast  is  beyond  praise,  both  for  expression  and  iu 
execution. 


Luc  a  dell  a  Robbid.  139 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    ROBBIAS,    MINO,    CIVITALI,    BENEDETTO    DA   MAJANO,    ANDREA 
FERUCCI,    RUSTICI    AND    BARTOLOMEO    DA   MONTELUPO. 

The  name  of  Luca,  the  son  of  Simone  di  Marco  clella  Eobbia,  is 
even  more  widely  known  than  that  of  either  of  his  great  contem- 
poraries, Ghiberti  or  Donatello,  through  the  famous  Eobbia  ware, 
which  he  invented.  Born  in  his  father's  house,  via  di  San 
Egidio,*  in  1499,  he  was,  like  so  many  other  eminent  artists  of 
his  time,  trained  in  a  goldsmith's  workshop. f 

To  him,  as  to  them,  this  was  but  a  stepping-stone  to  sculp- 
ture, upon  the  study  of  which  he  entered  at  a  very  early 
period  with  the  utmost  ardour  ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  only 
memorials  of  the  first  forty-three  years  of  his  life  are  a  few 
bas-reliefs,  on  the  side  of  Giotto's  campanile,  towards  the 
Cathedral  (1437-1440),  j  two  unfinished  reliefs  of  the  imprison- 
ment and  the  crucifixion  of  St.  Peter,  §>  at  the  Bargello,  and  a 
series  of  ten  alto-reliefs  in  the  same  museum,  which  he  began 
in  1433  for  the  balustrade  of  a  singing-gallery  (cantoria)  in  tho 
Cathedral,  and  finished  about  1440.  Among  these  dancing 
children  and  plaj^ers  upon  musical  instruments,  there  is  one 
group  of  choristers  whose  music  has  gone  out  unto  the  ends  of 

*  Gaye,  Carteggio,  vol.  i.  pp.  182-186,  Denunzia  de'  Beni.  Simone  della 
Eobbia  lived  in  the  Via  San  Egidio. 

+  This  goldsmith,  according  to  Vasari,  was  Lionardo  di  Ser  Giovanni, 
who  made  the  splendid  silver  altar  in  the  Duomo  atPistoja,  between  1355 
and  1371.  It  is,  however,  more  than  questionable  whether  Lionardo  could 
have  lived  long  enough  to  have  instructed  Luca  della  Eobbia.  (See  Lea 
Della  Rohhia,  par  H.  B.  De  Jouy,  p.  5,  note  2;  and  Milanesi's  ed.  of 
Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  168,  note  2.) 

X  Their  subjects  are  Grammar,  Philosophy,  Music,  Astronomy,  and 
Geometry. 

§  Assigned  to  Luca,  April  20,  1438,  and  intended  for  an  altar  in  the 
sbapel  of  St.  Peter  at  the  Cathedral 


140    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

the  world.  Who  that  has  listened  to  the  shrill  treble,  the  rich 
contralto,  the  luscious  tenor,  and  the  sonorous  bass,  has  failed 
to  feel  with  the  poet,  when  looking  upon  another  "  marble 
braid  of  men  and  maidens,"  that  "  heard  melodies  are  sweet, 
but  those  unheard  are  sweeter  ?  "  Compared  in  their  present 
position  with  the  boldly  treated  bas-reliefs  of  the  same  subject 
at  the  Bargello,  which  Donatello  sculptured  for  the  companion 
singing-gallery,  the  highly  finished  works  of  Luca  della  Eobbia 
are  the  more  effective,  but  could  both  be  raised  to  the  places 
which  they  were  intended  to  decorate,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  verdict  would  be  reversed,  for  while  Luca  would  be 
unheard,  Donatello  would  speak  clearly  from  the  height  for 
which  his  voice  was  pitched.  Having  neither  the  scientific 
knowledge  of  Donatello,  nor  the  elegance  of  Ghiberti,  Luca  is 
as  simple  and  plastic  as  the  latter  is  complicated  and  picturesque. 
Nothing  in  his  works  corroborates  the  statement  of  Baldinucci 
that  he  studied  under  Ghiberti,*  though  it  is  possible  that  he 
did  so  for  a  while,  to  perfect  himself  in  the  art  of  bronze  cast- 
ing, before  he  undertook  the  bronze  doors  of  the  sacristy  of  the 
Cathedral,  which  though  originally  assigned  to  him  on  the 
28th  of  February,  1446,  with  Michelozzo  and  Maso  di  Barto- 
lomeo  as  his  assistants,  ultimately  fell  entirely  into  his  hands, 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  the  one  and  the  death  of  the 
other. f  Their  ten  panels  contain  figures  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child,  St,  John  the  Baptist,  the  four  Evangelists  and  the  four 
Doctors  of  the  Church,  each  attended  by  two  pleasing  angels 
whose  attitude  and  expression  are  so  little  varied  that  the 
general  effect  is  somewhat  monotonous.  When  compared  with 
Ghiberti's  reliefs,  in  which  the  bronze  looks  as  if  it  had  been 
moulded  like  clay,  these  seem  to  want  sharpness  and  clearness 
of  line. 

Among  the  many  beautiful  cinque-cento  tombs  in  Tuscany, 
that  of  the  Fiesolan  Bishop  Benozzo  Federighi,  by  Luca  della 
Ptobbia  (1454-55),  in  the  church  of  San  Francesco  di  Paolo, 
below  the  hill  of  Bello-Sguardo,  holds  a  high  place.  \  The  admir- 
ably truthful  figure  of  the  dead  bishop,  clad  in  his  episcopal  robes, 
lies  upon  a  sarcophagus  within  a  square  recess,  whose  architrave 

*  Baldinucci,  vol.  i.  p.  452. 

f  Finished  in  14Gt,  August  10. 

X  Gaye,  Cartcgcfio^oX.  i.  p.  183.    This  monument  was  finished  in  1  ll;?* 


LiLca  dclla  Robbia.  141 

and  siclcposts  arc  decorated  ^vil,l^  enamelled  tiles,  painted  with 
flowers  and  fruits  coloured  after  nature.*  At  the  back  of  this 
recess,  are  three  half  figures  of  Christ,  the  Madonna,  and  St. 
John.  Their  faces  are  expressive,  and  that  of  the  Saviour  is  full 
of  mournful  dignity.  Two  flying  angels,  bearing  between  them 
a  garland  containing  an  inscription  setting  forth  the  name  and 
titles  of  the  deceased,  are  sculptured  below  the  rich  cornice  of 
the  sarcophagus. 

The  glazed  tiles  about  this  marble  tomb  were  set  in  place  ten 
years  after  Luca  had  made  his  first  works  in  Eobbia  ware,  the 
result  of  repeated  experiment  directed  towards  the  discovery  of 
some  method  of  covering  clay  with  an  opaque,  hard,  stanniferous 
enamel  which  would  not  crack,  and  in  which  he  could  multiply 
his  works  much  more  rajndly  and  far  more  remuneratively  than 
in  marble  or  bronze.  That  he  invented  enamelled  pottery, 
as  Vasari  asserts,  is  certainly  a  mistake,  for  it  was  not  only 
known  to  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  Greeks,  but  also  to  the 
Italians  in  the  middle  ages.f  Bicci  di  Lorenzo  had  modelled 
and  glazed  the  terra-cotta  group  of  the  coronation  of  the  Madonna 
over  the  door  of  the  hospital  of  San  Egidio  at  Florence,!  twenty 
years  before  Luca  applied  his  discovery  to  art  pui-poses,  and  at 
that  time  the  keramic  artists  of  Spain  and  Majorca  (who  had 
learned  their  art  from  the  Arabs)  manufactured  glazed  vessels 
of  all  descriptions,  and  tiles  for  church  pavements. 

The  glaze  used  by  Bicci,  which,  like  that  of  the  ancients,  was 

*  The  result  of  Luca's  endeavour,  mentioned  by  Yasari,  to  paint 
objects  on  flat  surfaces  of  terra-cotta,  "  which,  bein^  covered  with  vitrified 
enamels,  would  give  them  endless  durability."  The  twelve  medallions, 
painted  in  chiaroscuro,  with  impersonations  of  the  twelve  months,  now 
in  the  Kensington  Museum,  are  supposed  to  have  formed  part  of  the 
decorations  of  a  writing-cabinet,  made  by  Luca  for  Piero  di  Cosimo  de* 
Medici.     Vide  Illustrated  Catalorjue,  pp.  59-63. 

t  Vitruvius  (lib.  ii.  ch.  viii.)  mentions  the  use  of  enamelled  bricks  upon 
the  Palace  of  Mausolus  at  Halicarnassus.  That  the  mediaeval  Italians 
were  acquainted  with  this  art  is  proved  by  its  mention  in. the  Biv.  Art. 
Sched.  of  the  monk  Theophilus,  and  in  the  Maravlta  Freclusa  treatise, 
written  in  1330  by  Pietro  del  Bono,  a  Lombard,  as  well  as  by  the  use  of 
enamelled  plates  in  facades  and  friezes  by  early  media;val  architects. 
See  M.  Piot's  Cabinet  de  VA7natcur,  for  1801,  pp.  1  et  scrj. 

X  Attributed  by  Vasari  to  Dello  Delli,  but  proved  by  recently  dis- 
covered documents  to  be  the  work  of  Bicci  (G.  Milanesi,  Arch.  St.  It, 
voL  xli.  p.  183,  note  1,  Dispensa  33a,  a.d,  18C0). 


142     Histo7'{cal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

colourless,  merely  served  to  protect  the  terra-cotta  surface  from 
injury,  while  that  employed  at  Pesaro  in  the  thirteenth  century 
was  opaque  and  coloured.*  In  all  probability  the  sight  of 
Spanish  and  Majorcan  pottery,  or  perhaps  an  acquaintance  with 
some  foreign  workmen  employed  in  its  manufacture,  suggested 
to  Luca  the  idea  of  applying  their  processes  of  glazing  to  bas- 
reliefs  and  groups,  and  though  the  glaze  suitable  for  his  purpose 
cost  him  much  study,  it  did  not  entail  upon  him  such  sufferings 
and  privations  as  Palissy  the  potter  endured  before  he  attained 
success. 

The  enamel  first  used  by  Luca  upon  figures  was  pure  white, 
and  that  upon  his  backgrounds  and  accessories  blue  and  green, 
but  as  he  and  his  nephew  Andrea  considered  that  their  works, 
if  more  highly  coloured,  might  be  advantageously  used  to  re- 
place fresco-painting  in  damp  places,  they  afterwards  multiplied 
the  number  of  colours,  and  carried  them  into  the  flesh  and 
draperies  of  their  figures,  with  a  disregard  of  true  plastic  feeling, 
which  little  by  little  degraded  their  originally  pure  marble-like 
surfaces  to  the  level  of  wax-work. 

The  first  bas-reliefs  in  Eobbia  ware,  those  of  the  Resur- 
rection and  Ascension,  were  made  by  Luca  about  1440,  for  the 
lunettes  of  the  doors  leading  into  the  Sacristy  of  the  Cathedral. 
The  Resurrection  is  probably  the  earlier  of  the  two  as  it  has  no 
colour,  except  in  the  background,  while  in  the  Ascension  the  plants 
in  the  foreground  are  coloured.  It  is  only  by  such  apparently 
trifling  differences  that  the  date  of  enamelled  terra-cottas  can  be 
approximately  estimated,  for  as  the  artist's  work  is  concealed,  it 
is  not  possible,  as  in  a  marble  or  unglazed  surface,  to  judge  by 
the  manner  of  handling  as  to  what  period  of  his  life  any  given 
work  belongs.  In  Robbia  ware,  it  is  usual  to  assign  that  which 
is  simplest  in  colour  and  feeling  to  the  period  when  Luca  and 
Andrea  worked  together,  and  that  in  which  colour  is  unsparingly 
used  to  the  later  period  when  Andrea  and  his  four  sons,  Gio- 
vanni, Luca.IL,  Ambrogio  and  Girolamo  represented  the  school, 
still  there  are  examples,  such  as  the  decorative  terra-cotta  work 
in  the  Capella  Pazzi  at  Santa  Croce,  where  Luca  did  not  con- 
fine himself  to  blues  and  greens,  and  certain  works,  such  as  the 
lovely  altar-piece  of  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  in  the  church 

*  Marrjatt,  History  of  Pottery  and  Porcelain,  ch.  ii.  p.  15.     Second 
edition. 


Ltica  della  Robbia.  143 

of  the  Osservanza  near  Siena,  which  would  seem  to  be  recog- 
nizable as  his  work  without  the  aid  of  documents  or  signa- 
ture, now  attributed  to  Andrea,*  though  to  us  the  pure  white 
figures,  whose  draperies  are  picked  out  with  a  modicum  of  gold, 
the  unbroken  background  against  which  they  are  relieved  as 
against  an  arrested  bit  of  Italian  sky,  the  grace  of  the  bending 
Madonna,  and  the  simply  composed  bas-reliefs  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, the  Birth  of  our  Lord,  and  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin 
in  the  "  gradino,"  all  bespeak  the  master's  hand.  This  also 
is  clearly  visible  in  an  altar-piece  in  the  Vetusti  Chapel  of 
San  Bernardino,  at  Aquila  in  the  Abruzzi,  in  which  the  upper 
group  represents  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  with  a  like  sur- 
rounding of  angelic  worshippers,  and  the  lower  the  Eesurrection 
of  our  Lord.  The  four  small  bas-reliefs  of  the  Nativity,  the 
Annunciation,  the  Epiphany  and  the  Presentation,  in  the  gradino, 
are  sweet  and  tender  in  feeling,  and  simple  in  composition. 
These  characteristics  give  great  charm  to  Luca  della  Robbia's 
genuine  works,  which  being  eminently  serene  in  sentiment  and 
pure  in  style,  are  calculated  to  soothe  the  mind,  rather  than 
to  excite  emotion. f  They  realize  the  apothegm  of  Winckelmann 
that,  "perfect  beauty  like  the  purest  water  has  no  peculiar 
taste."  The  death  of  Luca,  who  was  a  truly  great  artist,  took  place 
on  the  22nd  of  September,  1482,  and  he  was  buried  at  San 
Piero  Maggiore,  where  his  nephew  and  pupil,  Andrea  di  Marco, 
born  in  1437,  was  also  laid  to  rest  in  1528.  He  and  his  four 
sons,  who  inherited  from  Luca  the  secret  which  was  the  basis  of 
his  and  their  fortunes,  developed  that  use  of  glazed  and  coloured 
terra-cotta  in  decorative  connection  with  architecture,  of  which 
Luca  had  set  them  an  example  in  the  medallions  upon  the 
fagade  of  Or  San  Michele,  and  Andrea  in  the  tympani  of  the 
arches  of  the  Loggia  di  San  Paolo.  By  far  the  most  striking 
example  of  this  decorative  system  is  the  elaborate  frieze  of  the 
Ceppo  Hospital  at  Pistoja,  which  illustrates  the  seven  acts  of 
mercy  (1514-1525).  Whether  this  series  of  brilliantly  coloured 
and  skilfully  modelled  compositions  be  the  work  of  Andrea  and 

*  See  Burckhardt's  Cicerone,  fourth  ed.  p.  345 ;  and  Dr.  Bode,  op.  cit. 
p.  17. 

f  M.  Bavbet  de  Jouy  gives  a  long  list  of  Eobbian  works  at  the  end  of 
his  volume  (Xes  Delia  Robhia).  See  also  the  Commentary  appended  to 
Vasari's  lAfe  of  Luca,  vol.  iii.  pp.  76  et  seq. 


144    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidptttre. 

his  son  Luca  II.,  or  of  some  unknown  member  of  their  family 
or  school,  we  are  unable  to  say,  but  any  one  who  examines  them 
will  find  proof  of  close  study  of  nature,  both  in  individual  por- 
trait heads  and  in  such  a  composition  as  the  Visitation  of  the 
Sick,  where  the  effect  of  illness  upon  the  human  frame  has  been 
evidently  studied  with  conscientious  care.  Andrea,  who  was  an 
accomplished  sculptor  in  marble  like  his  uncle,  made  a  richly 
decorated  altar  for  the  church  of  S.  Maria  della  Grazie  near 
Arezzo,  and  several  altars  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Madonna  for  the 
Cathedral  of  that  city,  and  Luca  II.  was  at  one  time  employed 
at  Rome  by  Pope  Leo  X.  to  pave  the  Vatican  Loggie  with 
coloured  tiles.  His  brother  Giovanni  made  a  highly  coloured 
altar-piece  for  the  convent  church  of  San  Girolamo  at  Fiesole,* 
as  did  the  monk  Ambrogio,  Andrea's  third  son,  for  the  convent 
of  St.  Spirito  at  Siena. 

Girolamo,  the  fourth  son  of  Andi'ea,  architect,  sculptor,  and 
painter,  went  to  France  with  some  Florentine  merchants  about 
1527,  and  there  found  ample  employment  during  the  remaining 
forty  years  of  his  life  under  four  kings  of  the  house  of  Valois.f 
The  Chateau  de  Madrid,  |  which  he  built  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  for  Francis  I.,  and  decorated  externally  with  reliefs 
in  Bobbia  ware,  whose  subjects  were  selected  from  the  Meta- 
morphoses of  Ovid,  is  mentioned  by  Evelyn  in  his  Diary\  as 
observable  only  for  its  open  manner  of  architecture,  "  being 
made  of  terraces  and  galleries  one  over  the  other,  to  the  very 
roof ; "  and  for  its  materials,  "  which  are  mostly  of  earth,  painted 
like  porcelain  or  China  ware,  whose  colours  appear  very  fresh."  |1 

*  An  altar-piece  in  the  Louvre  (Coll.  Sauvageot)  is  attributed  to 
Giovanni  (Marryatt,  o-p.  cit.  cli.  ii.  jDp.  16,  19). 

t  His  name  is  mentioned  in  the  royal  accounts  up  to  1565.  He  died 
in  France  about  1507. 

J  This  name,  which  still  clings  to  the  site,  is  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  given  on  account  of  the  resemblance  of  the  edifice  to  the  king's 
prison  in  Spain,  but  it  was  more  probably  suggested  by  the  use  of 
coloured  tiles  in  its  decorations,  common  upon  Spanish  buildings,  for 
between  the  chateau  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  whose  style  was  Italian 
Renaissance,  and  such  a  Moresque  Gothic  castle  as  that  in  which 
Francis  I.  was  confined  in  Spain,  there  can  have  been  no  resemblance. 

§  Evelyn's  Diary  (Oct.  25,  1650),  vol.  i.  p.  256.     Colburn's  edition. 

{{  The  Chateau  de  Madrid  had  fallen  into  so  ruinous  a  condition  at  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  that  Louis  XVI.  determined  to  pull  it  down ; 
but  the  royal  edict  was  never  carried  into  effect,  and  the  building  remained 


Workers  in  Robbia-ware.  145 

Although  the  Eobbias  guarded  their  i^recious  secret  with 
j(3alous  care,  ghazed  terra-cotta  figures,  generally  of  inferior 
quality,  were  made  in  Tuscany,  even  in  the  lifetime  of  Luca 
and  Andrea,  by  individuals  out  of  the  family,  one  of  whom  was 
Agostino  di  Duccio,  or  Guccio,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken 
in  the  preceding  chapter  as  employed  at  Eimini  by/  Sigismund 
Pandolfo  Malatesta  in  decorating  the  church  of  San  Francisco. 
We  know  by  a  letter  from  the  Signory  to  the  Legate  of  Peru- 
gia,* that  he  was  highly  esteemed  at  Florence,  and  his  great 
influence  upon  the  development  of  the  keramic  art  in  that  dis- 
trict is  proved  by  his  having  founded  a  workshop  for  the  manu- 
facture of  pottery  at  the  small  castle  of  Deruta,  which  event- 
ually attained  great  celebrity. f 

Other  workers  in  Robbia-ware  were  Baglioni,  who  made  a 
Madonna  with  Angels  for  a  chapel  of  the  Badia  at  Florence, 
and  a  now  destroyed  altar  for  the  Duomo  at  Perugia ;  Pietro 
Paolo  Agabiti  da  Sassoferrato,  sculptor  and  painter,  who  made 
the  ancona  of  an  altar  at  Arceria,  in  the  Sinigaglian  district, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  the  Capuchin  convent  of  that  town  ;  J 
Agostino  and  Polidoro,  who  made  the  Porta  di  St.  Pietro  at 
Perugia  ;  and  Giorgio  Andreoli,  from  Gubbio,  one  of  whose 
altar  reliefs  may  be  seen  in  the  "  Staedelsche  Institut  "  at 
Frankfurt-am- Main .  § 

After  existing  nearly  a  century,  the  school  founded  by  Luca 
(lella  Piobbia  died  out,  and  although  various  attempts  have  been 
made  to  discover  the  glaze  which  he  used,  none  have  been 
thoroughly  successful.  This  is  not  to  be  regretted,  unless 
another  Luca  could  be  found  to  use  it.  The  purity  of  a  white 
surface  relieved  against  a  background  of  deep  blue,  harmonised 

standing  until  the  Terrorists  of  the  Revolution  levelled  it  with  the 
ground,  and  sold  the  broken  fragments  of  the  beautiful  terra-cotta  orna- 
ments to  the  paviers  of  Paris,  who  used  them  to  mend  the  roads.  See 
Labarte(L«  Renaissance  des  Arts,  pp.  1,025  et  scq.);  and  for  ground  plan 
and  elevation,  T.  A.  de  Cerceau  {Les  jplus  Excellents  Bdtimcnts  cle  France. 
Paris,  1607). 

*  Gaye,  vol.  i.  p.  196,  dated  Sept.  1461. 

+  F.  Lazzari,  Nutlzle  clella  Eaccolta  Correr.  p.  59. 

t  Dated  1513.  "  Pregevole  lavoro  che  non  invidia  le  opere  di  Luca 
della  Robbia"  (Ricci,  Mem.  St.  delli  Artlstl  dalla  Marca  d'  Ancona, 
pp.  156,  158,  Doc.  V.  p.  15S). 

§  Dated  1515.  Robinson  {Illustrated  Catalogue,  p.  53)  says  it  is  bj 
Andrea  della  Robbia. 

L 


146     Histo7dcal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptnre. 

perfectly  with  his  lovely  Madonnas  and  Angels,  but  it  was  less 
consonant  with  the  inferior  creations  of  his  scholars,  who  used 
colour  not  as  an  accessory,  but  as  an  essential  element  of  effect. 

Mino  di  Giovanni,  called  "  da  Fiesole  "  though  born  at  Poppi 
in  the  Casentino  (1431),  is  classed  by  Vasari  as  the  scholar, 
and  by  other  writers  as  the  imitator,  of  Desiderio  da  Settignano, 
who  was  but  three  years  his  senior  and  his  intimate  friend. 
Their  parity  of  age  makes  it  hardly  credible  that  they  can  have 
stood  to'  each  other  in  the  relation  of  master  and  pupil,  and 
their  styles  have  not  sufficient  affinity  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  younger  artist  imitated  the  elder,  while  in  one  essential 
particular  they  differed  absolutely,  namely,  that  the  art  of 
Desiderio  is  never  mannered,  while  that  of  Mino  is  seldom  free 
from  mannerism.  Again,  Desiderio  produced  little,  and  that 
little  was  varied  in  type,  while  Mino  executed  many  works, 
which  despite  their  winning  grace  and  charm,  weary  by  their 
sameness  of  type.  We  can  listen  for  ever  to  the  nightingale, 
but  we  soon  tire  of  a  songster  who  endlessly  repeats  the  same 
notes,  however  sweet.  Only  in  refinement,  technical  excellence, 
and  delicacy  of  surface  treatment  can  they  be  classed  together, 
but  these  are  general  qualities  which  belong  to  other  sculptors 
of  their  day  and  generation  who  have  no  connection  with  each 
other  or  with  them. 

The  attempt  to  arrange  the  works  of  Mino  in  strict  chronolo- 
gical order  is  a  hopeless  task,  both  because  many  of  them  are 
not  dated,  and  because  they  are  too  much  alike  in  style  to  allow 
us  to  hazard  any  conjecture  as  to  their  execution  at  an  earlier  or 
later  period  of  his  life.  His  earliest  dated  work  is  the  bust  of  the 
rich  Floi-entine  banker  Niccolo  Strozzi,  in  the  museum  at  Berlin, 
sculptured  at  Rome  in  1454  with  that  fidelity  to  nature  charac- 
teristic of  Florentine  portraiture  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
bust  of  Bishop  Salutati,  sculptured  about  1462  for  the  tomb  of 
that  prelate  in  the  cathedral  at  Fiesole,  is  a  still  finer  example 
of  Mine's  skill  in  this  branch  of  art,  and  certainly  one  of  the 
most  living  and  characteristic  presentments  of  nature  ever  made 
in  marble.*  Any  one  who  has  looked  at  those  piercing  eyes,  and 
strongly  marked  features,  and  at  that  mouth  with  its  combined 

*  Ordered  in  1462,  by  this  bishop,  who  died  in  1466.  He  was  learned 
in  sacred  and  profane  jurisprudence,  beloved  by  Poj^e  Eugeniua  IV.,  and 
made  Bishop  of  Fiesole  by  Nicholas  Y.,  a.d.  1450. 


Mino  da  Fiesole.  147 

Litterness  and  sweetness  of  expression,  knows  that  the  Bishop 
was  a  man  of  nervous  temperament,  a  dry,  logical  reasoner,  who 
though  sometimes  sharp  in  his  words,  was  always  kindly  in  his 
deeds.  His  bust,  which  is  finished  like  a  gem,  from  the  top 
of  the  jewelled  mitre  to  the  rich  robe  upon  the  shoulders,  stands 
upon  an  architrave  supported  by  pilasters  and  adorned  with 
arabesques  below  a  sarcophagus  resting  upon  ornate  consoles. 
The  lovely  altar-piece  opposite  the  Bishop's  tomb,  which  Mino 
sculptured  at  his  expense,  is  divided  into  three  compartments, 
two  of  which  contain  statuettes  of  San  Lorenzo  and  San  Remigius 
in  niches  under  an  entablature  crowned  by  a  bust  of  our  Lord, 
and  the  third  a  group  of  the  Madonna  kneeling  with  her  hands 
crossed  upon  her  breast,  near  the  Infant  Christ,  who  «;its  upon 
the  steps  with  a  globe  upon  his  knee,  and  smilingly  stretches 
out  his  left  hand  to  the  little  St.  John,  who  kneels  before  him  in 
artless  simplicity.  The  work  is  as  fresh  and  sweet  as  a  lily  of 
the  valley,  and  in  style  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  master. 
Some  of  our  sculptor's  best  works  are  to  be  seen  in  the  church 
of  the  Badia  at  Florence,  where  he  worked  at  intervals  from  about 
1460  to  the  end  of  his  life.  The  earliest  is  an  altar  to  the  right 
of  the  entrance,  made  for  Diottisalvi  Neri,  whose  bust,  also  by 
Mino,  dated  1464,  is  in  the  collection  of  M.  Dreyfus  at  Paris, 
together  with  two  charming  figures  in  relief  of  Faith  and 
Charity,  which  once  occupied  niches  in  some  altar  of  the  same 
character  as  that  at  the  Badia.  A  relief  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child  in  a  roundel,  which  Mino  sculptured  for  the  monks  of  the 
convent  adjoining  the  Badia,  gave  them  so  much  satisfaction, 
that  they  commissioned  him  to  design  and  execute  tha  monu- 
ments of  the  distinguished  Florentine  Bernardo  Giugni  (d.  1466), 
who  served  the  Republic  as  ambassador  on  several  important 
occasions,  and  was  made  Cavaliere  and  Gonfalonier,  and  that  of 
Count  Hugo  of  Tuscany.  The  arched  recess,  the  statue  lying 
upon  a  sarcophagus,  the  Madonna  and  Child  in  a  lunette,  are 
distinctive  features  in  both  these  tombs,  as  in  those  by  Desi- 
derio  and  Rossellino  at  Santa  Croce,  which  are,  however,  much 
more  ornate.  The  Giugni  tomb  is  in  fact  very  simply  orna- 
mented, and  the  figure  of  Justice  below  the  lunette  is  meagre 
in  outline  though  refined  in  conception  and  carefully  executed 
Its  draperies,  like  those  of  Charity  which  occupies  a  corre- 
sponding place  in  the  tomb  of  Count  Hugo,  are  as  in  all  Mine's 

L  2 


148    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sailpttire. 

fiingle  figures  disposed  in  sharp-edged  folds,  and  the  faces  of 
both  have  a  sweet,  semi-Chinese  character.  The  tomb  of  the 
Count  with  its  lunette  relief,  its  statuettes,  its  flying  angels 
supporting  a  memorial  tablet,  its  heraldic  genii,  and  its  sculp- 
tured architrave,  is  a  charming  object,  but,  considering  the 
excellent  opportunity  offered  for  relief  decoration  by  the  pic- 
turesque story  of  his  life,*  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  was  not 
assigned  to  some  sculptor  like  Piossellino,  who  excelled  in  relief, 
rather  than  to  Mino  who  seldom  ventured  to  attempt  it.  Its 
occupant,  who  was  Viceroy  of  Tuscany  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  tenth  century  under  the  Emperor  Otlio  II.,  had  long  led  a 
worldly  life,  when  one  day  while  hunting,  he  lost  his  way  in  a 
dense  forest.  After  wandering  about  for  a  long  time  in  search 
of  an  issue,  he  suddenly  found  himself  at  the  entrance  to  a 
forge,  and  looking  in  saw  men  tormented  in  flames,  and  beaten 
out  on  anvils  like  bars  of  iron.  Asking  the  meaning  of  this 
strange  spectacle,  he  was  told  by  the  black  forgers  that  these 
were  damned  souls,  and  that  unless  he  repented  of  his  sins 
and  led  a  new  life  he  would  share  their  wretched  fate.  The 
vision  then  vanished,  and  the  Count  returned  home,  to  sell 
his  patrimony,  build  seven  Abbeys,  one  of  which  was  that  of 
the  Badia  at  Florence,  and  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life 
in  penitence  and  prayer. f 

In  1473  Mino  made  two  very  mediocre  bas-reliefs  from  the 
life  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  for  a  pulpit  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Prato,  and  then  went  for  the  third  time  to  Rome,  where  he 
resided  for  several  years,  and  executed  many  commissions.  J  The 
most  important  of  these  was  that  given  him  by  Cardinal  Barbo 
for  a  monument  to  his  uncle  Pope  Paul  II.  (Pietro  Barbo),  scion 
of  a  noble  Venetian  house,  who  being  vain  of  his  personal  beauty 
wished  to  take  the  name  of  Formosus  on   ascending  the   papal 

*  Count  Hugo  is  the  "  Gran  Barone,"  spoken  of  in  the  Paradiso, 
canto  xvL 

"  II  cui  nome,  e  '1  cui  pregio, 
La  festa  di  Tommaso  riconforta." 

f  The  vision  is  related  by  Scipione  Ammirato,  1st.  Flor.  vol.  i 
pp.  32-33. 

X  Mino  first  went  to  Rome  in  1454.  During  his  second  visit,  in  1463, 
he  worked  upon  a  pulpit  for  St.  Peter's,  commissioned  by  Pius  II.  In 
1464  he  returned  to  Florence  and  was  admitted  to  the  Sculptor's  Guild. 
See  M.  Eug.  Miintz,  op.  cit.,  vol  iv.  p.  253. 


Miiio  da  Fie  sole.  149 

throne.  As  tliis  satisfaction  was  denied  him,  he  consolod  him- 
self hy  showing  off  his  handsome  person  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage in  gorgeous  vestments  at  church  ceremonies,  and  by  wear- 
ing a  costly  mitre,  blazing  with  sapphires,  diamonds,  emeralds, 
and  rubies.  Unlike  his  great  predecessor  Pius  II.,  he  neither 
appreciated  nor  favoured  Art  and  Literature,  and  being  neither  of 
an  enterprising  nor  chivalrous  nature,  abandoned  the  troublesome 
but  glorious  enterprise  of  repelling  the  Turks,  which  that  Pon- 
tiff was  about  to  undertake  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The 
monument  erected  to  him  by  Mine,  at  St.  Peter's,  was  pulled 
down  when  the  old  Basilica  was  destroyed,  and  after  being  again 
set  up,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  dismounted 
and  dispersed.  It  consisted  of  a  recumbent  effigy  of  the  Pope, 
stretched  upon  a  sarcophagus  resting  on  a  double  base,  standing 
under  an  arch  supported  by  columns,  outside  of  which  were 
statuettes  of  the  Evangelists  in  niches.  Bas-reliefs  of  the 
Last  Judcjment  and  the  Piesurrection  filled  the  lunette  and  tho 
flat  space  below  it,  while  winged  boys  with  medallions  and  gar- 
lands, reliefs  of  Faith,  Charity,  and  Hope,  the  Creation  of  Eve, 
and  the  Temptation,  and  a  profusion  of  rich  ornament  combined 
to  give  the  surface  of  the  tomb  a  rich  and  varied  effect.  Of  all 
its  sculptures,  only  a  few  fragments  remain  in  the  crypt  of  the 
Basilica,  such  as  the  mannered  bas-relief  of  the  Last  Judgment, 
in  which  Pope  Paul  II.  and  the  Emperor  Frederic  III.  are 
pointed  out  to  the  Redeemer's  notice  by  St.  John  the  Baptist ; 
the  Creation  of  Eve,  the  Temptation,  which  is  in  a  sadly 
mutilated  state,  and  the  highly-polished  and  carefully  finished 
bas-reliefs  of  Faith  and  Charity.* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  these,  as  in  many  other  works 
at  Rome  ascribed  to  Mine,  he  employed  a  great  number  of 
assistants  who  worked  after  his  designs  with  but  little  regard 
to  their  master's  reputation,  as  for  instance,  in  a  second  relief 
of  the  Last  Judgment  in  the  Cloister  Court  of  San  Agostino, 
&c.,tbut  the  Tabernacle  at  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere,!  we  believe 

*  For  an  engraving  of  this  monument,  see  Ciaconnius,  vol.  ii.  p.  1,091. 

f  Inscribed  "Opus  Mini."     Engraved  at  Plate  3  of  Tosi's  Mon.  Sep. 

J  Dr.  Bode,  op.  cit,  attributes  to  Mino  the  monument  of  Cecco  Torna- 
buoni  (d.  1480)  in  the  Minerva;  the  Madonna  reliefs  in  the  Innettes  of 
the  monuments  of  Cristofero  della  Rovere  (d.  1179)  in  S.  M.  del  Popolo, 
and  of  Pietro  Riario  (d.  1474)  at  SS.  Apostoli,  and  the  arms  and  decora- 
tion of  the  interior  of  the  Pal.  di  Venezia.  Many  other  works,  especially 
tombs,  at  Rome  show  the  influence  exercised  there  by  this  master. 


150    Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidpture. 

to  be  an  authentic,  as  it  is  a  very  charming,  work.  The  bronze 
door  surrounded  by  angels,  Avhich  closes  the  receptacle  for  the 
*'  Olea  Sancta,"  and  the  Christ  holding  his  cross  in  one  hand 
and  extending  the  other  over  a  chalice,  out  of  which  rises  a 
flame  typical  of  the  grace  which  he  sheds  upon  it,  are  enframed 
by  an  arch,  adorned  with  cherubs'  heads,  and  supported  by  two 
pilasters  with  Corinthian  capitals,  upon  whose  flat  spaces  are 
vases  containing  lilies.  There  are  also  statuettes  in  niches,  an 
architrave  sculptured  with  cherubs'  heads  and  festoons,  and  a 
gable  within  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  sculptured  in  the  likeness 
of  a  dove.  Repetitions  of  this  tabernacle,  with  but  slight  varia- 
tions, exist  in  the  sacristy  of  Sta.  Croce  at  Florence,  the  baptis- 
try at  Volterra  (1471),  the  Church  of  S.  Marco  at  Rome,  and 
the  Baglioni  chapel  in  the  church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Cassinense  at 
Perugia.  The  hair  and  robe  borders  of  the  statuettes  of  SS. 
John  and  Jerome  belonging  to  this  latter  work  are  gilded,  and 
the  pupils  of  their  eyes  are  coloured,  like  those  of  the  figures 
and  bust  of  the  Salutati  tomb  and  altar-piece  at  riesolo.(*) 

Mino  died  at  Florence  in  July,  1484,  of  a  fever  brought  on  by 
over  fatigue,  consequent  upon  the  moving  of  some  heavy  mar- 
bles without  suflicient  assistance,  and  was  buried  in  the  church 
of  San  Ambrogio,  where  he  is  called  to  mind  by  a  marble  Taber- 

*  Other  works  by  Mino,  not  mentioned  in  the  text,  are  the  busts  of 
riero  de'  Medici,  "  il  Gottoso  "  (1454),  of  a  young  man  in  armour,  and  of 
Punaldo  della  Luna  (1461);  four  j^vofile  heads  in  relief,  and  a  Madonna 
and  Child  at  the  Burgello;  a  bust  of  Isotta  da  Eimini  in  the  Canipo 
Santo  at  Pisa.  Two  rehofs  of  the  Madonna  and  Child— one  of  great 
beauty — are  in  the  collection  of  M.  Timbal  at  Paris,  and  five  in  the 
Kensington  Museum,  which  look  rather  like  the  work  of  an  imitator  of 
Mino's  style,  as  they  have  neither  his  naivete  nor  his  high  finish.  The 
bust  of  San  Giovannino,  by  Mino,  at  the  Louvre,  formerly  in  the  His  de 
la  Salle  collection,  is  a  gem.  [See  tailpiece,  ch.  vi.  p.  133.)  In  the  first 
edition  of  this  work  we  hazarded  the  opinion  that  it  might  be  the  work  of 
Desiderio,  but  further  study  of  it  has  convinced  us  that  we  were  in  error. 
Those  who  doubt  may  compare  it  with  the  shield-bearing  child  to  the 
left,  on  the  base  of  the  monument  of  Count  Ugo  at  the  Badia.  The 
Louvre  also  contains  an  important  piece  of  work  by  Mino,  viz.,  two  marble 
slabs  richly  sculptured,  nos.  27  and  28,  Renaissance  Museum.  Dr.  Code, 
Kunst  unci  Kilnstler,  Lief.  62,  p.  62,  mentions  also  at  Florence,  a  Taber- 
nacle in  the  Via  de*  Conti;  several  JNIadonna  reliefs  at  Empoli  and 
Urbino  in  the  Museum ;  at  Paris  in  the  Louvre,  and  the  Gavet  collec- 
tion ;  at  Beilin  in  the  Museum,  a  bust  of  Christ  as  Ecce  Homo,  1466, 
with  a  female  allegorical  bust. 


Mattco  Civitali  di  Giovanni.  1 5 1 

nacle  sculptured  in  the  latter  part  of  Lis  life  to  enshrine  an 
*'  ampulla  "  of  crystal,  which  is  said  to  contain  the  sacred  ele- 
ments miraculously  transmuted  during  the  celebration  of  mass  on 
the  festival  of  San  Firenze,  a.d.  1230.  The  miracle  is  typically 
represented  in  a  bas-relief  on  the  gradino,  of  the  Child  Jesus 
supported  by  angels,  rising  from  a  chalice. 

In  the  art  of  Mino  da  Fiesole  we  have  pointed  out  as  an  offset 
to  its  real  charm,  a  certain  sameness  of  expression,  which  is 
rare  among  the  Italian  sculptors  of  the  quattro-cento,  whose 
works  as  a  rule  have  much  variety,  however  markedly  indivi- 
dual they  may  be  in  style.  To  those  already  mentioned 
whose  merit  in  this  respect  is  unquestionable,  may  be  added 
one  of  Mino's  contemporaries, 


MATTED    CIVITALI    DI    GIOVANNI, 

born  at  Lucca  in  1435,  and  early  sent  to  study  at  Florence, 
returned  thence  to  Lucca  to  enrich  the  Cathedral  with  many 
admirable  works.  One  of  these,  the  little  temple  of  the  Volto 
Santo  (1482),  is  decorated  with  a  statue  of  St.  Sebastian  (1484), 
whose  pure  realistic  style  is  very  unlike  that  of  Civitali's  other 
woi'ks.* 

Another  is  the  very  beautiful  monument  to  Pietro  da  Noceto, 
secretary  to  Pope  Nicholas  V.,  which  for  sobriety  of  style,  ele- 
gance of  proportion,  and  judicious  alternation  of  plain  and 
ornamented  surface  ranks  with  the  best  quattro-cento  Tuscan 
works  of  its  class. f  The  arched  recess,  the  Madonna  and  Child 
in  the  lunette,  the  sarcophagus  with  the  recumbent  statue,  are 
features  common  to  other  monr.ments  at  Florence,  but  the  pro- 
file heads  of  the  son  and  daaghter-in-law  of  the  deceased,  in 
flat  relief,  are  novel  and  admirably  treated  additions.  Directly 
opposite  Pietro's  tomb  is  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  for 
v.hich  Civitali  was  employed  (1478)  to  make  a  marble  Taber- 
nacle  and  two  kneeling   angels,    by  Count  Bertini  of  Lucca, 

*  Civitali  signed  the  first  contract  for  this  work  with  Domenico 
Bertini,  January  19,  14S2,  and  the  second  on  the  '21st  of  February.  Tho 
statue  is  signed  and  dated  148t.     Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  ii.  p.  127. 

f  Milanesi  says  this  work  was  finished  in  1472.  If  so,  it  was  made  iu 
the  lifetime  of  Pietro  da  Noceto,  who  died  in  1479. 


152    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

whose  bust  in  a  roundel  is  placed  at  the  entrance  to  the 
chapel.  The  angels,  which  reveal  Civitali  in  an  altogether  new 
light,  are  imbued  with  a  devout  feeling  even  more  strongly 
expressed  in  the  beautiful  bas-relief  of  Faith  at  the  Bar- 
gello,  and  in  the  statue  of  Zachariah  in  the  chapel  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist  in  the  Cathedral  at  Genoa,  which  he  sculptured 
about  1 420.  The  earnestness  with  which  all  these  figures  pray, 
would  seem  to  show  that  the  sculptor  was  himself  devout. 
Though  pictorial  rather  than  plastic  in  style,  both  in  action  and 
in  the  treatment  of  draperies,  they  are  really  original  and  beau- 
tiful works,  whose  religious 
5  spirit  contrasts  strikingly  with 
the  Pagan  tendencies  which 
show  themselves  in  the  works 
of  other  quattro-cento  sculp- 
tors. Unlike  these  bas-reliefs, 
those  upon  the  Altar  of  St. 
Eegulus,  which  Civitali  made 
for  Niccolo  di  Pietro  da  Noceto 
in  1484,  and  those  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  John  at  Genoa, 
are  executed  in  a  fantastic 
and  exaggerated  style  which 
is  strangely  at  variance  with 
that  of  his  statues.  In  them 
he  reminds  us  of  Pollajuolo, 
but  when  he  treats  portrait 
heads  in  relief,  as  in  the 
Noceto  tomb,  he  recalls  the 
great  medallists  of  the  time, 
and  we  can  give  him  no  higher  praise.  Of  his  six  life  size 
statues  in  the  Cathedral  at  Genoa,  executed  between  1490  and 
1496,  the  Zachariah  is  the  finest  (see  wood-cut).  The  Elizabeth 
is  well  draped  and  grandiose,  and  the  Habbakuk  effective,  but 
the  Adam  wants  dignity,  and  the  Eve  is  coarse  and  without 
expression. 

Although  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life  Civitali,  who 
died  in  1501,  worked  as  a  sculptor,  he  was  a  thoroughly  accom- 
plished architect,  as  he  proved  by  the  temple  of  the  Volto  Santo 
in  the  Cathedral,  one  of  the  most  ]3erfcct  examples  of  the  Early 


Benedetto  da  Majano.  153 

Renaissance  stj'lc,  and  by  the  palace  of  the  Lucchcsini  at  San 
Giusto. 

His  son,  Niccolo,  architect  and  sculptor,  built  the  palaces 
of  the  Bernardiui  at  Lucca,  of  the  Santini  at  Gattajola,  and 
of  the  Sinibaldi  at  Massa  Pisana.  We  know  nothing  of  him 
as  a  sculptor,  save  that  he  worked  at  Pietro  Santa,  Vincenzo 
Civitali,  one  of  Niccolo's  descendants,  attained  some  reputation 
in  the  sixteenth  century  as  a  military  engineer  and  architect. 


BENEDETTO   DA   MAJANO. 

Antonio  da  Majano,  "  maestro  di  pietra,"  had  three  sons, 
Giuliano  (1432-1490),  architect,  intarsiatore,  and  sculptor, 
who  spent  much  of  his  life  at  Naples,  in  the  service  of  the 
Duke  of  Calabria;  Giovanni,  sculptor;  and  Benedetto,  born 
at  Florence  in  1442,  with  whom,  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
sculptors  of  the  younger  generation,  we  are  more  especially 
concerned.  A  bas-relief  of  the  Pieta  by  Giuliano  and  Giovanni, 
which  is  set  into  the  pedestal  of  a  life-size  terra-cotta  group  of 
the  Madonna  and  Child  bv  Benedetto  over  the  altar  of  a  little 
wayside  shrine,  called  the  Madonna  dell'  Ulivo,  about  a  mile 
outside  the  gate  of  Prato,  on  the  road  to  Florence,  represents 
the  double  tendencies  of  sculpture  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  Both  bas-relief  and  group  were  executed  in 
1480,  and  yet  they  dilfer  totally  in  style,  for  while  the  relief, 
which  represents  our  Lord  supported  by  the  Madonna  and  St. 
John,  is  like  Pollajuolo  in  its  intensely  exaggerated  facial  expres- 
sion and  hard-lined  draperies,  the  group  is  like  Luca  della 
Robbia,  quiet  in  action,  sweet  in  feeling,  and  softly  rounded  in 
its  forms  and  folds.  It  is  not  known  when  and  with  whom  Bene- 
detto began  to  study  sculpture.  For  many  years  he  devoted  him- 
self to  intarsia  work,"  in  Avhich  he  was  instructed  by  his  eldest 
brother  Giuliano,  and,  if  Vasari  is  to  be  believed,  he  did  not 

*  This  brancli  of  art,  wliich  consists  in  combining  different  coloured 
woods  into  figures,  ornaments,  and  effects  of  perspective,  came  into  vogue 
when  Brunelleschi  and  Paolo  Uccello  perfected  perspective.  It  corre- 
sponds to  the  "opus  sectile"  of  the  ancients  in  all  but  the  material 
(Marcliesi,  vol.  ii.  p.  225).  The  inlaid  chair  in  the  sacristy  of  the 
Cathedral  (1465),  and  the  doors  of  the  Hall  of  Audience,  in  the  Pal-azo 


154    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpture, 

abandon  it  for  sculpture  until  the  destruction  of  two  beautifully 
inlaid  chests  by  dampness  had  convinced  him  that  it  Avas  unwise 
to  spend  his  energies  upon  such  fragile  materials.*  He  must, 
however,  have  studied  sculpture  long  before  1474,  when  he 
modelled  his  first  dated  work,  the  bust  of  Pietro  Mellini  at 
the  Bargello,  as  its  masterly  execution  shows  a  practised  hand. 
For  this  same  person,  who  was  a  rich  merchant,  he  made  the 
beautiful  pulpit  at  Santa  Crooe,  in  which  the  sister  arts  of  archi- 
tecture and  sculpture  are  admirably  combined  into  a  master-work 
of  its  kind.  Skilfully  supported  against  one  of  the  pillars  of  the 
nave,  through  which  its  staircase  is  carried,  it  shows  five  panels 
to  view,  each  containing  a  bas-relief  of  an  event  in  the  history 
of  St.  Francis.  One,  the  finest,  represents  the  dead  body  of 
the  Saint  lying  on  a  bier  in  the  Basilica  at  Assisi,  surrounded 
by  kneeling  and  standing  figures  of  priests,  and  boys  with 
tapers  and  censers.  The  background,  treated  in  perspective, 
shows  the  nave  flanked  by  columns  leading  up  to  the  altar, 
over  which  angels  bear  the  kneeling  Saint  in  a  mandorla  to 
heaven.  "With  this  exception,  the  composition  so  closely 
resembles  Ghirlandajo's  treatment  of  the  same  subject  in  the 
Sassetti  chapel  at  Sta.  Trinita  (1485),  that  we  feel  some  interest 
in  ascertaining  the  date  of  the  pulpit,  commonly  fixed  at  about 
1495.  This  would  make  Benedetto  Ghirlandajo's  debtor,  but 
if  Dr.  Bode  be  right  in  supposing  that  the  pulpit  was  com- 
menced soon  after  the  bust  of  Mellini  (1474),  then  the  case 
is  reversed. •]-  The  relief  is  a  little  more  quiet  in  line  than  the 
fresco,  and  its  figures  are  a  little  less  numerous,  but  their 
general  arrangement  is  strikingly  similar,  and,  we  may  add, 
their  treatment  is  equally  pictorial,  for  Benedetto  here,  as  in 
all  his  other  reliefs,  painted  in  marble,  as  Ghiberti  did  in  bronze. 
The  four  other  subjects  treated  in  the  panels  of  the  pulpit 
are,  like  that  which  we  have  described,  composed  with  much 

Veccliio  (1475-1*81),  generally  attributed  to  tlie  two  brothers,  are  in  all 
probability  by  Giuliano  alone.  Benedetto's  skill  as  an  intarsiatore  is 
shown  in  a  door  found  at  Borgo  San  Sepolcro,  and  now  in  a  private 
collection  at  Palermo.  The  Annunciation  is  represented  in  the  two  upper 
panels,  and  vases  of  flowers  in  the  two  lower.     Bode,  p.  43. 

*  On  the  way  to  Hungary,  where  they  ■were  to  be  presented  to  King 
Matthias  Corvinus. 

f  On  the  ground  that  the  bust  represents  Mellini,  as  well  advanced  in 
years.     Sec  Bode,  op.  cit.  p.  43. 


Benedetto  da  Majano.  155 

skill  and  clearness,  and  tho  four  seated  Virtues  between  the 
consoles  are  charming  statuettes,  which  combine  with  the 
ornamented  flat  spaces  to  give  the  whole  a  rich  and  beautiful 
effect. 

Another  master-work  of  Majauo,  which  has  been  hitherto 
assigned  to  a  later  period  of  his  life,  is  the  shrine  or  monu- 
mental altar  of  San  Savino  at  Faenza,  which  is  traditionally  said 
to  have  been  paid  for  out  of  a  fund  left  to  the  Cathedral  in  14G8 
by  one  of  the  Manfredi,  Lords  of  Faenza.  This  makes  it  more 
likely  that  it  was  commenced  in  1471  or  1472,  and  the  similarity 
of  figure  treatment  noticeable  between  its  reliefs  and  statuettes 
and  those  of  the  Pulpit  at  Sta.  Croce,  would  point  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  two  works  are  nearly  contemporary. 

The  shrine  of  San  Savino  consists  of  a  sarcophagus,  "with 
statuettes  of  the  Virgin  and  an  angel  on  either  side,  placed 
under  an  arch  supported  upon  six  pilasters,  covered  with 
elaborate  Renaissance  ornament.  In  the  central  sjDace  below 
the  sarcophagus  there  are  six  flat-surfaced  and  sharply-incised 
bas-reliefs,  representing  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  saint. 
They  represent  him  as  praying  when  ordered  by  an  angel  in 
the  clouds  to  go  to  Assisi ;  as  preaching  at  Assisi ;  as  con- 
ducted in  company  with  his  deacons  before  an  idol,  which  he 
overthrows ;  as  having  his  hands  cut  off  upon  the  pedestal  on 
which  the  idol  had  stood  ;  as  restoring  sight  to  Prisciano  who 
kneels  naked  before  him  to  receive  his  miraculous  touch,  while 
several  spectators  show  by  their  gestures  and  features  how  great 
an  interest  they  take  in  the  result,  and  an  admirably  conceived 
soldier  in  the  foreground  stands  absorbed  in  the  arrangement 
of  his  sword  and  shield ;  and  lastly,  as  stoned  to  death  by 
four  men,  and  lying  with  his  face  upon  the  ground. 
These  pictures  in  marble  approach  more  nearly  to  the  require- 
ments of  sculpture  than  many  of  Ghiberti's  reliefs,  in  that 
the  stories  are  told  by  as  few  figures  as  possible,  as  well  as  in 
that  their  surfaces  are  more  flatly  treated. 

As  Benedetto  and  Giuliauo  received  their  final  j)ayment  for 
the  beautiful  door  of  the  Hall  of  Audience  at  the  Palazzo 
Vecchio  in  1480  it  must  have  been  made  before  that  time.  Its 
marble  framework  by  Benedetto  still  exists  "  in  situ,"  but  the 
garland-bearing  children  which  belonged  to  it  have  disappeared, 
Bnd  the  statue  of  the  youthful  St.  John  which  crowned  it  has 


156    Histo7Hcal  Handbook  to  Italian  Sculpture. 

been  removed  to  the  Museum  of  the  Bavgello  {see  tailpiece). 
In  this  graceful  and  pleasing  though  not  strikingly  individual 
figure,  the  hands  are  noticeable  for  their  elegance  of  form  and 
careful  treatment.  During  this  same  year  (1480),  while  the 
brothers  were  employed  at  the  Madonna  dell'  Ulivo  near  Prato, 
of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  Benedetto  sculptured  a  cibo- 
rium  for  the  Church  of  St.  Dominic  at  Siena,  with  leaves, 
festoons  and  medallion  reliefs  of  the  Evangelists  upon  its 
pedestal,  and  two  angels  holding  candelabra,  now  removed  to 
another  part  of  the  church.  The  friendship  and  patronage 
of  Filippo  Strozzi,  gave  hira  many  opportunities  of  exercising 
his  talents  both  as  architect  and  sculptor,  and  the  enduring 
records  of  their  connection  are  a  marble  bust,  a  palace,  and 
a  tomb.  The  bust,  now  in  the  Renaissance  Museum  at  the 
Louvre,  is  a  master-work  of  its  kind,  full  of  character,  modelled 
with  great  skill,  and  evidently  an  admirable  likeness  ;  *  while  the 
palace,  massive,  rock-like,  and  defiant,  as  suited  to  times  when 
street  commotions  were  common  events,  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  noblest  of  the  early  Renaissan'ce.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid 
by  Filii^po  Strozzi  on  the  16th  August,  1489,  "just  as  the  sun 
rose  above  the  mountains,"  and  when  he  died,  two  years  later, 
the  works  were  suspended.  On  their  resumption,  Simon  Polla- 
juolo  (Cronaca)  superseded  Benedetto  as  architect,  and  had  the 
glory  of  crowning  its  sombre  fa9ade  with  a  magnificent  Corinth- 
ian cornice,  suggested  by  an  antique  Roman  fragment. 

The  tomb  is  that  of  Filippo  Strozzi  at  Sta.  Maria  Novella, 
in  a  recess  behind  the  altar  of  the  Strozzi  Chapel.  It  was 
ordered  by  its  tenant  in  the  very  year  of  his  death,  and  no 
doubt  the  sculptor  worked  upon  it  with  a  deeper  interest  after 
that  occurred.  Its  chief  feature  is  not  the  sarcophagus, 
with  its  relief  of  angels  holding  a  memorial  tablet,  but  the 
lovely  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  to  our  mind  the 
sculptor's  masterpiece,  in  an  ornate  roundel  borne  up  by 
angels  and  cherubs  which  fills  the  space  above  the  sarcophagus. 
It  was,  perhaps,  by  the  recommendation  of  Filippo  Strozzi 
to  King  Ferrante,  whose  business  affairs  he  administered,  that 
Benedetto  was  invited  to  Naples  by  the  Duke  of  Terranuova, 

*  The  Museum  at  Berlin  has  a  replica  of  this  bust  in  terra-cotta,  whieb 
has  all  the  marks  of  being  the  original  from  which  the  marble  was 
taken. 


Benedetto  dtt  Majano.  157 

about  1490,  to  sculpture  a  bas-relief  of  the  Annunciation  for 
the  Mastro  Giudici  Chapel  in  the  church  of  IMonte  Oliveto, 
with  statuettes  of  SS.  John  the  Baptist  and  Evangelist,  and 
bas-reliefs  in  the  gradino  from  the  Life  of  our  Lord.  The 
Madonna  in  the  Annunciation  is  pleasing  in  character  and 
modest,  but  the  angel  is  violent  and  mannered  in  action,  and 
much  encumbered  with  heavy  drapery.  The  background,  which 
is  thoroughly  pictorial,  like  all  Benedetto's  works  of  its  class, 
represents  an  elaborately  ornamented  palace,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  a  garden.  Whether  or  no  Benedetto  was  appointed 
architect  to  the  Duke  of  Calabria  after  the  death  of  his  brother 
Giuliano  we  cannot  say,  but  if  so  he  cannot  long  have  held 
the  position  as  he  worked  at  San  Gimignano  for  some  years 
before  his  death,  and  sculptured  the  busts  of  Giotto  and 
Squarcialupi,  a  distinguished  musician,  for  the  Cathedral  at 
Florence.  In  1494  he  received  a  commission  for  the  tomb 
of  San  Bartolo  in  the  church  of  S.  Agostino  at  S.  Gimignano. 
The  Saint  (d.  1299),  who  is  called  the  Tuscan  Job,  on  account 
of  the  exemplary  patience  with  which  he  bore  a  twenty  years' 
leprosy,  was  canonized  by  Alexander  VL,  after  many  miracles 
had  been  wrought  at  his  tomb.  Money  for  the  erection  of  a 
chapel  in  his  honour  was  set  aside  by  the  commune  in  1488, 
and  six  years  later  Benedetto  was  charged  with  the  erection  of 
the  costly  monument  in  its  precincts,  whose  sarcophagus,  placed 
above  the  white  marble  altar,  has  a  bronze  tablet  set  in  its 
front,  bearing  a  commemorative  inscription.  This  tablet  is  sup- 
ported by  two  flying  angels,  bearing  a  palm  and  a  crov/n,  and 
below  it,  in  the  "  dossale  "  of  the  altar,  are  three  niches  con- 
taining seated  statuettes  of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  and  a 
predella,  adorned  with  three  simply  designed  and  admirably 
composed  stories  from  the  life  of  the  saint.  In  one  he  stands 
upon  the  steps  of  an  altar  with  his  head  reverently  bent  over 
a  book  which  he  holds  in  his  hands,  while  he  casts  out  a  demon 
from  a  possessed  woman ;  in  another  he  has  his  feet  washed, 
and  in  the  third  he  lies  upon  his  death-bed.  The  roundel, 
adorned  with  cherubs'  heads,  leaves,  and  flowers,  above  tho 
sarcophagus,  contains  an  alto-relievo  of  the  Madonna  and  Child, 
almost  if  not  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  Strozzi  monument  at 
Sta.  Maria  Novella.  Another  admirable  work  at  San  Gimignano 
by  Benedetto  is  the  altar-piece  at  the  Cathedral  in  the  chapel 


158    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlpttire: 

of  Sta.  Fina.  The  grated  doorway,  wliicli  closes  the  receptacle 
for  the  pyx,  is  flanked  by  niches  containing  statuettes  of  angels, 
and  surmounted  by  a  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  sur- 
rounded by  cherubs  and  adoring  angels.*  The  predella  is 
adorned  with  bas-reliefs  representing  the  saint  restoring  a  dead 
man  to  life,  her  death,  and  her  funeral.  The  bust  of  Onofrio 
Vanni  (1493),  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Cathedral,  is  also  by  Bene- 
detto,! who,  dying  May  29,  1497,  left  his  property  in  trust  to 
be  divided  between  his  male  and  female  descendants,  with  rever- 
sion to  the  company  of  the  Bigallo.  This  occurred  in  1558, 
when  the  company  became  possessed  of  his  unfinished  group 
of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  and  of  a  small  statue  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian, now  in  the  chapel  of  the  Misericordia.  A  few  other  artists 
of  this  period,  who  belong  rather  to  the  fifteenth  century,  in 
which  they  had  their  cradles,  than  to  the  sixteenth,  in  which 
they  found  their  tombs,  may  here  be  mentioned,  though  none 
of  them  equalled  the  great  masters  of  their  time. 
One  of  them  was 


ANDREA    DI   PIERO    FERUCCI, 

born  in  1465,  at  Florence,  who  spent  the  early  part  of  his  lifo 
at  Naples,  under  Antonio  di  Giorgio  da  Settignano,  architec- 
tural engineer  to  Don  Ferrante,  and  after  his  return  to  Tuscany 
sculptured  the  ancona  of  the  high  altar  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Fiesole.  Its  centre  is  occupied  by  a  tabernacle,  placed  between 
a  bas-relief  of  the  Annunciation  and  statuettes  of  SS.  Matthew 
and  Romulus,  and  its  gradino  is  sculptured  with  delicate  reliefs, 
illustrative  of  the  Mystery  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  Another 
altar-piece  of  the  same  character,  pleasing  in  style,  and  ably 
sculptured,  which  Ferucci  made  for  the  church  of  San  Girolamo 
at  Fiesole,  is  now  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  together 
with  a  tabernacle  very  similar  in  design  to  the  tabernacles  of 
Mino  da  Fiesole,  above  whom  Vasari  very  unjustly  exalts  him, 
though  he  was  decidedly  Mine's  inferior  in  style  and  sweetness 

*  May  29,  1490  and  Dec.  13,  1493,  Benedetto  is  recorded  in  the  Lih. 
deW  Opera  as  the  recipient  of  certain  sums  of  money  for  the  "  Epitaffio 
di  S.  Fina  "  (Pecori,  op.  cit.  p.  519). 

f  Vide  Pecori,  p.  527,  and  Doc.  xcviii.  p.  653. 


Giozanni  Francesco  Rtistici,  159 

of  fi;eling.  He  was  in  truth  but  a  second-rate  artist,  who  owed 
bis  success  rather  to  the  good  school  in  which  he  was  educated 
than  to  any  great  natural  gifts.  One  of  bis  best  works  is  the 
half  figure  of  Marsilio  Ficino  in  the  Duomo  at  Florence,  of 
which  the  head  is  very  living,  while  the  hands  which  hold  a 
book  (probably  the  works  of  Plato,  of  whose  philosophy  he 
was  so  celebrated  an  exponent)  are  admirably  modelled.  Other 
works  by  Ferucci  are  the  statue  of  San  Andrea  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Florence,  a  chapel  in  the  church  of  the  Innocenti  at  Imola, 
two  angels  in  the  Cathedral  at  Volterra,  and  two  crucifixes  in 
the  fourth  right-hand  chapel  of  the  church  of  Sta.  Felicita 
at  Florence.  Shortly  before  his  death  (1527),  he  began  the 
monument  of  Antonio  Strozzi  at  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  which 
was  completed  by  his  scholars,  Silvio  Cosini  and  Tommaso 
Boscoli.* 


RUSTIC!. 

Giovanni  Francesco  Rustici,  born  at  Florence  in  1474,  is 
classed  by  Vasari  among  the  scholars  of  Verocchio,  and  of  his 
great  pupil,  Lionardo  da  Vinci.  If  Rustici  did  study  with 
Verocchio,  it  must  have  been  but  for  a  very  short  time,  as  he 
can  hardly  have  begun  to  do  so  before  1486,  when  he  was  twelve 
years  old,  and  much  of  the  remaining  two  years  of  Verocchio's 
life  was  spent  at  Venice.  At  that  time  Lionardo  had  already 
been  five  years  at  Milan,  where  he  remained  until  the  over- 
throw of  his  patron,  Lodovico  Sforza,  in  1499,  when  Rustici  was 
twenty-five  years  old.  Six  years  later  (December  Gth,  1506) 
the  merchants'  guild  gave  Rustici  a  commission  for  the  bronze 
group  of  St.  John  disputing  with  a  Levite  and  a  Pharisee, 
which  he  finished  and  set  up  over  the  north  door  of  the 
Florentine  Baptistry  in  1511.  This  work  bears  such  unmistak- 
able evidence  of  Lionardo's  influence  that  we  cannot  refuse  Rustici 
the  honour  of  being  counted  among  his  pupils,  nor  can  we  take 
from  him  the  credit  of  authorship,  as  some  have  done,  by  saying 
that  the  group  was  modelled  by  Lionardo,  for  the  very  good 
reason  that  he  was  at  Milan  when  the  commission  was  given, 

*  Cosini  ^vorked  under  Michelangelo  at  S.  Lorenzo,  and  with  Boscoli 
on  the  monament  of  Pope  Julius  at  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli. 


t6o    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

and,  witli  the  exception  of  a  flying  visit  to  Florence  in  1511, 
did  not  return  there  until  it  had  been  cast  and  put  in  its  place. 
Having  done  his  work  well,  Rustici  expected  to  he  well  and 
promptly  paid  for  it,  hut  in  this  he  was  disappointed,  for 
although  he  received  a  small  portion  of  the  2,000  scudi  which 
he  demanded  without  delay,  he  had  to  wait  twelve  years  before 
he  got  the  balance — January  21st,  1524.  In  the  meantime  he 
had  divided  his  time  between  fretting  over  this  treatment,  paint- 
ing, studying  natural  history,  practising  sleight  of  hand,  and 
social  enjoyment.  He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  a  convivial 
club  composed  of  twelve  artists  who  supped  with  him  at  stated 
times,  under  the  agreement  that  each  should  design  a  highly 
ornate  dish,  and  that,  if  any  two  hit  upon  the  same  device, 
they  should  be  fined.  In  this  way  Rustici  spent  his  life  and 
frittered  away  his  property,  until  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Medici  (1528),  when  he  went  to  France  to  make  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Francis  L,  who  had  promised  him  a  salary  of  500 
scudi  a  year,  and  a  palace  to  live  in,  but  this  great  good  fortune 
was  only  partially  realized,  for  when  the  King  died,  in  1547, 
all  prospect  of  casting  the  statue  was  abandoned,  and  Rustici, 
who,  if  dates  are  correct,  had  long  lived  like  a  prince,  lost  his 
position  through  the  monarch's  demise,  and  would  have  starved, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  aid  of  his  countryman,  Piero 
Strozzi,  who  lodged  him  in  an  abbey  at  Tours  belonging  to 
his  brother  the  Cardinal  Lorenzo  and  supported  him  until  his 
death  in  1544. 


EARTOLOMEO    SINIBALDI   DA   MONTELUPO. 

This  artist  was  born  at  Florence  in  1445,  and  died  there  in 
1522.  After  wasting  his  youth  in  dissipation,  he  became  a 
changed  man  under  the  influence  of  Savonarola,  and  studied 
with  such  ardour  that  he  became  an  accomplished  sculptor. 
When  the  death  of  the  great  reformer  made  Florence  intoler- 
able to  him,  he  went  to  Bologna  to  model  statues  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  by  the  sale  of  which  he  hoped  to  support  his  Avife  and 
children  whom  he  had  left  at  home  in  poverty.  The  canon 
at  whose  house  he  lodged,  wishing  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
statues,  in  order  to  give  them  to  Giovanni  Beutivoglio,  Lord  of 


Bartolomeo  Sinibaldi  da  Hlontclupo.  i6i 

Bologna  (from  whom  he  hoped  to  obtain  a  government  office  for 
his  brother),  tried  to  persuade  Bartolomeo  to  present  them  to 
him,  which  he  refused  to  do,  but  being  really  in  great  need 
of  money,  he  offered  to  sell  them  for  half  their  value.  At  this 
juncture  he  was  unfortunately  seized  with  a  fever,  whose  pro- 
gress the  wicked  host  determined  to  assist  by  mixing  slow 
poison  with  his  medicine,  hoping  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
coveted  statues  after  the  death  of  his  victim.  Feeling  that  his 
end  was  near,  Bartolomeo  prayed  earnestly  to  Savonarola 
to  succour  him  and  his  unfortunate  family,  and  immediately 
beheld  the  sainted  friar  floating  above  his  bed  in  a  halo  of 
glory,  and  heard  a  voice  saying,  "Arise,  and  go  to  the  house 
of  Camillo  della  Siepe  "  (his  father's  old  friend),  "  where  you 
will  be  restored  to  health."  This  he  did  believing,  and  with 
the  promised  result.'" 

Though  we  may  be  inclined  to  give  little  credence  to  the 
story,  we  may  take  it  as  one  of  the  proofs  of  that  faith  in  his 
power  with  which  Savonarola  inspired  so  many  artists  of  his 
day.  Among  them  were  Sandro  Botticelli,  who  gave  up  paint- 
ing for  love  of  him,  and  would  have  starved  without  the 
assistance  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  other  friends  ;  the  Bob- 
bias,  two  of  whom  were  made  priests  by  his  hands,  and  who 
testified  their  veneration  for  him  by  coining  a  medal  bearing 
his  portrait  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  a  city  with  many 
towers,  above  which  appeared  a  hand  holding  a  dagger  pointed 
downwards,  with  the  motto,  "  Gladius  Domini  sup.  terram  cito 
et  velociter ;  "  Lorenzo  di  Credi,  who  spent  the  latter  years  oi 
his  life  in  the  convent  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella  ;  Fra  Bartolomeo, 
who  became  a  monk  in  the  convent  of  St.  Mark,  and  was 
so  afflicted  by  Savonarola's  death,  that  he  gave  up  painting  for 
four  years  ;  Cronaca,  who  ceased  story-telling,  for  which  he  had 
become  famous,  and  would  talk  only  of  Fra  Girolamo  ;  Giovanni 
della  Corniole,  who  perpetuated  his  likeness  in  one  of  the 
finest  of  modern  gems ;   and    Michael   Angelo,  who  was  one  of 

*  Vita  di  Savonarola,  Burlamacchi,  pp.  166,  167.  Among  the 
works  of  Bartolomeo  are  a  statue  of  Mars  upon  the  monument  of 
Benedetto  Pesaro  in  the  Frari  at  Venice  ;  the  arms  of  Leo  X.  on  the  wall 
of  a  garden  near  the  Palazzo  Pucci  at  Florence;  the  bronze  statue  of 
St.  John  the  Evangelist  in  one  of  the  niches  outside  of  San  Michele; 
and  a  crucitix  in  the  refectory  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Mark  at  Florence. 
He  died  at  Lucca  in  1552,  aged  eighty-eight. 

U 


1 62    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadpture. 

the  Friar's  constant  auditors  in  bis  youth,  who  pored  over  his 
sermons  when  an  old  man,  and  ever  retained  a  vivid  impression 
of  his  powerful  voice  and  impassioned  gestures.  These  his 
disciples  knew  that  although  Savonarola  persuaded  the  people 
to  make  bonfires  of  gems,  books,  pictures,  and  drawings  of  a 
licentious  character,  and  induced  artists  to  destroy  their  studies 
from  the  nude,  he  was  not  an  enemy  to  art.*  They  well  under- 
stood that  he  simply  desired  the  triumph  of  spiritual  things  in 
art,  in  manners,  and  in  politics,  and  that  he  was  fighting 
against  the  Pagan  spirit  in  art  wherever  it  appeared. f 

*  According  to  Prof.  Villari,  the  value  of  the  objects  destroyed  in  the 
"  bruciamento  della  vanita,"  at  the  end  of  the  Carnival  of  1497,  has  been 
greatly  exaggerated.  They  were  chielly  rich  dresses,  portraits  of  bad 
women,  books  adorned  with  gold,  &c.,  &c.  {Vita  di  Savonarola,  vol.  i. 
p.  462). 

f  That  Savonarola  was  no  enemy  to  literature  is  proved  by  his  having 
induced  the  monks  of  St.  Mark's  to  purchase  for  3,000  florins  the  Lauren- 
tian  library,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  scattered  among  the 
creditors  of  the  Medici.  Among  them  was  the  French  ambassador, 
Messer  Philippe  de  Commines,  who  would  have  removed  it  to  France 
'Villari,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  467). 


The  AbrtLzzi.  i6^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Lii  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  followed  the  history  of 
sculpture  in  Tuscany  up  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
which  closes  the  period  of  the  early  Renaissance.  In  this  we 
propose  to  speak  of  sculpture  in  other  parts  of  Italy  from  the 
Revival,  up  to  which  we  traced  it  in  our  Introductory  Chapter, 
to  ahout  the  year  1500,  and  thus  so  far  complete  the  history  of 
the  art  throughout  the  Peninsula. 


THE   ABPvUZZr. 

While  in  Apulia  all  practice  of  sculpture  seems  to  have 
ceased  after  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  it  had  a 
longer  life  in  the  Abruzzi,  and  in  the  fifteenth  reached  its  best 
period  under  Tuscan  influence.  Aquila  possesses  an  interest- 
ing monument  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  a  public  foun- 
tain, called  della  Riviera,  which  was  made  by  Tancredi,  a 
native  of  Pentima  di  Valva  *  in  1292.  It  consists  of  an  immense 
basin,  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  walls  decorated  with  patterns 
in  white  and  red  stone,  and  fed  with  water  from  the  mouths  of 
ninety  masks,  now  much  broken  and  defaced.  Sta.  Maria  di 
Colemaggio,  Sta.  Maria  Paganica,  Sta.  Giusta,  San  Marco,  and 
several  other  Romanesque  churches  at  Aquila  have  portals  of 

*  Pentima  is  a  small  town  built  on  the  site  of  Corfinium,  not  far  from 
Salmona.  Zani,  Encidopedia  Met.  xv.  331,  mentions  Tancredi  and  the 
Bolognese  sculptor  Rengueri  (Aulico  di  Tancredi  e  Boemondo),  with 
whom  he  has  been  confounded;  ibid.  xvi.  72,  282.  The  date  and  the 
name  of  the  artist  are  inscribed  upon  a  stone  set  into  the  wall  of  the 
fountain:  "a.d.  mcclxxii.  Magis.  Tangredus  de  Pentima  de  Valva  fecit 
hoc  opus."  Leosini,  op.  cit.  p.  70,  states  that  the  north  wall  of  the 
fountain  with  its  masks  was  added,  long  after  Tancredi's  day,  by  Alcs- 
sandro  Ciccarone,  an  Aquilan  architect  and  sculptor. 

M  2 


164    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

the  fourteenth  century  adorned  with  sculptured  animals  full  of 
life  and  truth  to  nature  and  with  ornanaents  of  elegant  design, 
but  the  figures  in  the  reliefs  about  them,  like  the  statuettes,  are 
stiff  and  clums}'.  The  two  monuments  at  Aquila  of  the  Cam- 
pioneschi,  who  were  lords  of  Aquila  under  the  Angevine  kings, 
are  very  unequal  in  merit,  and  different  in  style,  though  both 
are  of  the  fifteenth  century.  One  of  them  is  the  picturesquely 
designed,  but  clumsily  executed  Gothic  tomb  of  Count  Lalle 
and  his  two  sons,  in  the  church  of  San  Giuseppe,  made  in 
1432  by  Walter  Alemanno,  a  German  or  of  German  extrac- 
tion ;*  the  other  is  the  beautiful  Renaissance  tomb  at  San  Ber- 
nardino of  Count  Lalle's  widow,  Maria  Pereira,  and  her  infant 
daughter  Beatrice,  which  conforms  in  its  general  design  to  the 
type  adopted  by  the  Florentine  sculptors  of  the  period. f  It 
has,  however,  one  strikingly  original  feature,  the  double  efGgy, 
of  the  child  under  the  ornate  sarcophagus  and  of  the  mother 
upon  it.  Death  seems  but  lately  to  have  set  his  seal  upon  her 
Bweet  face,  which  droops  to  the  right  shoulder  so  that  it  is  visible 
from  below,  and  upon  that  of  her  infant,  who  lies  between  two 
mourning  genii  with  one  arm  crossed  upon  his  breast,  an  image 
of  perfect  repose.  In  technical  treatment,  in  refinement  of 
feeling,  and  charm  of  expression  these  figures  are  of  that  high 
grade  which  betokens  the  Tuscan  training  of  the  sculptor,  who 
was  probably  Andrea  dall'  Aquila,  referred  to  as  the  scholar 
of  Donatello,  in  a  letter  of  recommendation  addressed  in  1458 
to  the  director  of  the  works  at  the  Cathedral  of  Siena  in  terms 
of  the  highest  praise,  j  and  not  Salvestro  Aquilano,§  who  with 
his  pupil  Salvatore,  made  the  shrine  of  San  Bernardino  in  the 
same  church,  which  is  very  inferior  in  style  and  treatment  to 
the  Pereira  monument. 

*  This  artist  made  a  monument  in  the  churcli  of  San  Domenico  to  the 
knight  Niccolo  GaliofE  (Leosini,  oj).  cit.  p.  123). 

f  Upon  the  monument  is  this  inscription— 

''Beatrici  CamponescjE,  infanti  dulci,  quEO  vixit  mens.  xiv. 
Maria  Pereyra,  Noroniaque  mater,"  &c, 

X  See  Doc.  'per  la  Storia  clelV  Arte  Sanese,  by  Carlo  Milanesi,  and 
Schultz,  op.  cit.  iii.  190.  Another  Andrea  dall' Aquila  studied  at  'Venice 
■under  Alessandro  Vittoria  in  the  succeeding  century.  Cicogna,  Isc. 
Venit.  ii.  124. 

§  He  was  the  son  of  Giacomo  da  Salmona,  and  was  called  rAquilano 
from  AquUa,  and  d'Arischi  from  a  castle  in  the  Aquilan  territory. 


Andrea  dalV  Aqidla.  165 

The  slirine  of  San  Bernardino,  erected  at  a  cost  of  20,000 
golden  florins  by  Giacomo  di  Notar  Nanni,  a  rich  merchant 
high  in  favour  with  King  Charles  II.  and  King  Frederic  of 
Naples,  and  a  great  benefactor  to  the  churches  and  religious 
houses  at  Aquila,  is  an  immense  square  pile  adorned  with 
statuettes,  ornamental  work,  and  reliefs.  The  most  important 
relief  represents  the  Madonna  enthroned  upon  clouds  borne  up 
by  cherubs,  and  the  infant  Christ,  who  standing  upon  her  kneo 
blesses  the  kneeling  Donor,  here  presented  to  him  by  San  Ber- 
nardino.* The  figures  are  simply  draped  and  wiell  grouped, 
the  Divine  Child  is  dignified  in  attitude  and  bearing,  but  the 
Madonna  is  self-conscious,  and  San  Giovanni  Capistrano  who 
kneels  on  her  right  hand  with  a  banner  in  his  hand,  is  man- 
nered and  theatrical.  The  festoons,  birds,  fruits,  and  gro- 
tesques want  sharpness  and  delicacy,  while  the  statuettes  and 
the  bas-relief  of  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord,  hardly  rise  above 
mediocrity.  The  altar-piece,  also  ascribed  to  Salvestro,  and 
given  by  the  same  Giacomo  Nanni  to  a  chapel  in  the  church 
of  the  Madonna  del  Soccorso,  is  very  superior  to  the  shrine. 
Its  angels  with  gilded  wings  and  draperies,  relieved  against  a 
blue  background  in  the  central  space,  recall  Luca  della  Robbia, 
whose  masterpiece  in  the  Vetusti  Chapel  the  artist  must  have 
Been  and  studied. 


NAPLES. 

Sculpture  at  Naples  in  the  thirteenth  century  is  represented 
by  Pietro  di  Stefano,  and  that  somewhat  mythical  architect  and 
sculptor,  Masuccio  I.  (1230-1305)  who,  according  to  the  very 
unsatisfactory  and  often  contradictory  accounts  given  of  him  by 
his  countrymen,  was  a  pupil  of  the  unknown  painter  of  a 
miraculous  crucifix  at  San  Domenico  which  is  reputed  to  have 
spoken  to  St.  Tbomas  Aquinas.  After  his  master's  death, 
Masuccio  went  to  Rome  in  company  with  a  foreign  architect,  to 
study  the  antique,  but  hearing  that  Giovanni  Pisano  had  been 
appointed  architect  to  King  Charles  of  Anjou,  he  returned 
to  Naples,    and   eventually   succeeded   him    in   that  position. 

*  The  Saint  died  at  Aquila  in  1444. 


1 66    Historical  Handbook  cf  Italian  Sculpture, 

During  his  tenure  of  office  be  is  said  to  have  laid  the  foun« 
dation  of  the  Cathedral,  and  to  have  designed  S.  Domenico 
Maggiore,  though  the  honour  of  having  erected  these  and  other 
churches  is  also  claimed  for  the  Tuscan  architects,  Niccola  and 
Giovanni  Pisano,  as  well  as  for  Maglione  and  Arnolfo  di  Cam- 
bio,  both  scholars  of  Niccola,  who  resided  at  Naples  for  several 
years.* 

Among  the  sculptures  designated  by  Neapolitan  writers  as 
the  works  of  Masuccio  I.,  which  have  either  disappeared  or  are 
now  known  to  be  the  works  of  other  hands,  are  the  bust  of 
Cardinal  Eaimondo  Barile,  a  bas-relief  of  Christ  between  two 
saints,  the  tomb  of  Jacopo  di  Costanzo,  a  crucifix  in  the  Capella 
de'  Caraccioli,  and  the  monument  of  Pope  Innocent  IV.  The 
latter  consisted  of  several  storeys  adorned  with  mosaics  and 
terminated  by  a  half  arch,  whose  lunette  contained  a  bas-relief 
of  the  Pope  and  the  Archbishop  Humberto  di  Montorio 
kneeling  before  the  Madonna.f  The  recumbent  effigy,  a  simple 
and  expressive  figure  in  the  left  transej)t  of  the  Cathedral,  is 
especially  interesting  as  a  portrait  of  the  pope  who  excom- 
municated Frederic  II.  at  the  Council  of  Lyons.  As  Masuccio  I. 
died  about  thirteen  years  before  the  erection  of  this  monu- 
ment (1318),  and  Pietro  di  Stefano  survived  him  only  about 
five  years,  it  cannot  be  their  work,  but  it  may  be  by  Pietro^u 
son,  Masuccio  II.  (1290-1387),  godson  and  pupil  of  Masuccio 
I.,  to  whom  Neapolitan  writers  ascribe  nearly  all  the  churches 
and  tombs  of  this  epoch.  They  tell  us  that  after  his  return 
from  Rome,  where  he  had  spent  several  years  in  study,  he  wan 
commissioned  by  King  Robert  to  build  the  church  of  Sta. 
Chiara,!  which  had  been  commenced  by  an  incompetent  foreign 

*  Niccola  Pisano  was  at  Naples  from  1221  to  1231  (?).  Giovanni 
Pisano  worked  at  Naples  from  1268  to  1274,  and  perhaps  again  in  1279. 
Maglione,  built  a  portion  of  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo,  about  1266,  but 
Masuccio  II.'s  share  in  the  erection  of  this  building  was  so  much  greater 
than  his,  that  he  should  be  rather  regarded  as  its  architect.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1324  A  document  of  the  year  1284,  January  25,  speaks  of  it 
as  then  nearly  finished.  See  Schultz,  iii.  39 ;  Boa.  Eeg.  Karol.  I.  b.  67. 
Arnolfo  di  Cambio  was  in  the  employ  of  Charles  of  Anjou  in  the  year 
1277.     Vermiglioli,  Lc  Sc7ilture  ddla  Fontana  di  Perugia. 

f  Gregorovius,  Les  Totnheaux  des  Papes,  p.  113. 

X  Dedicated  in  1340,  according  to  the  inscription  on  the  campanile. 
Schultz,  op.  cit.  iii.  62. 


Naples.  167 

arcliitGct.  This  is  possible,  but  he  cannot  have  sculptureil  the 
Angevine  inomimeuts  within  its  walls,  as  their  character 
bespeaks  a  Tuscan  influence,  under  which,  so  far  as  we  know, 
Masuccio  never  came.  This  influence  was  probably  brought  to 
hear  upon  Naples  by  the  Siencse  sculptor  Tino  da  Camaino,* 
who  resided  there  for  about  sixteen  years  (1321-1337),  and 
was  appointed  by  the  last  will  and  testament  of  Queen  Maria, 
widow  of  Charles  II.  of  Anjou,  together  with  Gallardus  of 
Sermona,  to  erect  her  monument  in  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria 
Domna  Eegina,  whose  general  design — a  Gothic  canopy,  sup- 
ported upon  columns  over  a  sarcophagus,  with  a  sepulchral 
effigy  exposed  to  view  by  curtain-drawing  angels — is  closely 
followed  in  the  tombs  at  Sta.  Chiara.f  The  white  marble 
figures  in  some  of  the  bas-reliefs  upon  the  sarcophagi  are  either 
set  against  a  dark  blue  background  studded  with  golden  lilies, 
or  relieved  upon  black  marblej  as  in  the  tomb  of  Queen  Maria 
above  mentioned.  This  system  of  decoration  is  followed  in  the 
bas-reliefs  of  early  Christian  martyrdoms  upon  the  pulpit  at 
Sta.  Chiara,  and  in  those  from  the  life  of  St.  Catherine  upon 
the  organ  loft,  where,  on  account  of  their  distance  from  the  eye, 
they  produce  a  much  better  effect. 

The  most  important  of  the  monuments  in  this  church  is 
that  which  was  raised  to  the  memory  of  her  grandfather.  King 
Robert,  by  Queen  Joanna  I.,  who  on  the  1st  of  September, 
1343,  only  a  few  months  after  his  death,  as  we  learn  from  her 
letter  to  Jacobus  de  Factis,§  commissioned  the  Florentine 
brothers,  Sancius  and  Johannes,  to  erect  the  imposing  struc- 
ture which  towers  above  the  high  altar  and  surmounts  the 
doorway  leading  into  the  nuns'  choir. 

The  King  is  there  four  times  represented:  first  seated  on  a 
throne  with  the  globe  and  the  sceptre  in  his  hands ;  then  lying 
on   a   sarcophagus  in   the  garb  of  a  Franciscan  monk  with  a 

*  See  chapter  iv. 

f  Doc.  368,  Scliultz,  iii.  146,  mentions  an  order  given  by  King  Robert 
to  his  agents  at  Eome  to  obtain  and  forward  the  marbles  needed  by  the 
sculptor  Gallardus  for  this  monument.  Documents  of  the  time  of  King 
Charles  II.  record  the  appointment  of  Tino  da  Camaino  and  Gallardus, 
and  mention  the  sums  paid  to  them  during  its  progress  and  when  it  was 
completed,  a.d.  1326. 

;j;  Like  that  of  the  frieze  of  the  Erectheum  at  Athens. 

§  Keg.  Johanna)  I.,  fol.  8,  no.  i.  doc.  cdxix.  See  Schultz,  o'p.  cit.  iv.  170. 


1 68    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Snilptitre, 

crown  upon  his  head  and  a  ci-oss  upon  his  breast,  while  angels 
hold  back  the  heavy  curtain  folds  that  they  may  look  down 
upon  him ;  thirdly  as  standing  upon  the  front  of  the  sarcopha- 
gus, in  low  relief,  with  his  two  wives  lolanthe  and  Sancia,  his 
son  Duke  Charles  with  his  wife,  Maria  of  Austria,  and  their 
daughter  Queen  Joanna  ;  and  fourthly  as  kneeling  with  Queen 
Sancia  before  the  Madonna,  to  whom  they  are  presented  by  St. 
Francis  and  Sta.  Chiara.  Though  grand  in  its  general  effect, 
this  Gothic  tomb  is  coarsely  sculptured,  while  the  figures  about 


HCtl  AII\J.J»C. 


it  are  cold,  lifeless  and  of  little  value  apart  from  their  decora- 
tive office.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  monument  of  Duke 
Charles  (d.  1328),  who  is  represented  by  a  recumbent  effigy 
robed  in  a  royal  mantle  painted  blue  and  decorated  with  golden 
lilies,  and  in  a  relief  on  the  front  of  his  sarcophagus  seated  in 
the  midst  of  his  councillors  and  vassals.  Below  it  are  winged 
figures  of  the  Virtues,  and  a  wolf  drinking  out  of  the  same  cup 
with  a  lamb,  symbolic  of  the  harmony  which  the  Duke  brought 
about  during  his  regency  between  the  nobles  and  the  people.  Of 
the  remaining  tombs  we  may  speak  more  briefly.  Either  Marie 
de  Valois,  the  second  wife  of  Duke  Charles,  or  his  daughter 


♦ 


Naples,  169 

Joanna,  lies  in  the  monument  next  ms  own,*  and  her  sister 
Maria  da  Durazzo  in  that  on  the  oi:)posite  side  of  the  church 
whose  bas-reliefs  are  of  white  marble  against  a  black  background. 
The  bas-relief  in  the  left  transept,  representing  the  infant  Maria 
da  Durazzo  (d.  1844)  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  and  borne  to 
heaven  by  angels,  is  notable  for  its  Giottesque  character,  and 
that  of  the  Pieta  upon  the  tomb  of  Agnesa  di  Perigord,  mother  of 
the  Duke  of  Durazzo,  for  its  extravagant  and  mannered  action. 
The  first  and  best  of  the  six  distinct  styles  perceptible  in  the 
sculptures  at  Santa  Chiara,  is  that  of  the  curtain-drawing  angels 
and  the  statuettes  in  niches  upon  King  Robert's  monument,  all 
probably  the  work  of  the  Tuscan  artists  employed  by  Queen 
Joanna ;  the  second  and  worst  is  that  of  the  seated  statue  of 
King  Robert ;  the  third  is  that  quiet,  lifeless,  but  comparatively 
correct  style,  in  which  the  effigies  and  figures  in  relief  {see 
wood-cut,  p.  1G8)  upon  the  monuments  of  Duke  Charles  of 
Calabria,  Queen  Joanna  I.,  and  Maria  da  Durazzo  are  executed; 
the  fourth  is  the  Giottesque  style  of  the  bas-relief  of  her  infant 
daughter ;  the  fifth,  the  extravagant  and  mannered  style  of  that 
upon  the  tomb  of  Agnesa  di  Perigord  ;  and  the  sixth,  that  of 
the  figures  in  relief  upon  the  pulpit  and  organ-loft.  The  co- 
operation of  Masuccio  II.  in  any  of  these  works  is  question- 
able, and  if  we  are  to  regard  him  as  the  sculptor  of  the  very 
picturesque  Gothic  tomb  of  the  Duchess  Catherine  of  Austria 
at  San  Lorenzo,  seems  hardly  possible.  This  quadrangular  struc- 
ture, whose  pointed  roof  is  supported  upon  twisted  columns, 
is  divided  midway  by  the  sarcophagus,  under  which  a  doorway 
leads  into  the  choir.  Mosaics  are  let  into  the  spirals  of  the 
,  columns,  the  pinnacles  at  each  end  of  the  architrave,  and  the 
lunette  ;  statuettes  of  SS.  Peter,  Paul,  Catherine,  and  Louis  of 
Toulouse  stand  at  the  head  and  feet  of  the  recumbent  effigy, 
and  the  front  of  the  sarcophagus  is  decorated  with  roundels 
containing  half  figures  in  relief  of  the  Madonna,  SS.  John  the 
Evangelist,  Anthony  of  Padua,  Francis,  and  Santa  Chiara.  No 
Tuscan  influence  is  perceptible  in  it,  but  as  the  curtain-draw- 
ing angels,  here  absent,  appear  in  the  monuments  of  Carlo  da 
Durazzo,  and    of   Ptobert   d'Artois  and  his  wife   Giovanna  da 

*  Giannone,  op.  cit.,  says,  at  vol.  ill.  p.  194,  Storia  di  No  poll,  that 
Joanna  is  buried  thei'e;  but  the  inscription  upon  the  tomb  which  recoida 
l  er  name  is  considered  to  be  of  doubtful  authenticity. 


1 70    Histo^Hcal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Durazzo  in  the  same  church,  we  are  led  to  conjecture  that  they 
were  made  hy  the  artists  of  King  Robert's  monument.  There 
is  but  little  hope  that  the  obscurity  which  prevails  about 
Masuccio  and  his  works  will  be  cleared  up,  as  his  name  is  not 
mentioned  in  any  inscriptions  or  documents  of  the  time,  and 
no  better  proof  of  his  having  existed  is  to  be  found  than  Yague 
tradition  and  bold  assertion,  which  fixes  the  date  of  his  death 
in  1387  at  the  age  of  ninety-six.* 

As  the  fourteenth  century  is  filled  with  the  fame  of  Masuccio 
II.,  so  is  the  fifteenth  with  that  of  his  scholars,  Andrea 
Ciccione  and  the  Abbate  Bamboccio.  Ciccione,  who  is  said  to 
have  built  the  churches  of  Santa  Marta  and  Monte  Oliveto,  and 
to  have  sculptured  a  monument  to  Giosue  Carracciolo  in  the 
Cathedral,  was  employed  by  Queen  Joanna  II.  to  make  the 
monument  of  her  brother.  King  Ladislaus,  which  rises  to  a 
great  height  over  a  doorway  in  the  church  of  San  Giovanni  a 
Carbonara.t  The  four  colossal  figures  of  the  Virtues  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance  support  an  open  arched  gallery  containing 
life  size  seated  statues  of  the  King  and  his  mother,  and  of  Royalty, 
Charity,  Faith  and  Hope.  Above  them  stands  the  sarcophagus 
with  the  royal  efiigy  watched  over  by  angels,  within  a  curtained 
recess,  crowned  by  an  equestrian  group  of  Ladislaus  holding  a 
sword  in  his  right  hand.  Through  its  profuse  gilding  and  colour, 
and  its  multitude  of  figures,  arches  and  pinnacles,  the  general 
efi"ect  of  this  monument  is  imposing,  but  its  coarsely  executed 
accessories  and  clumsily  proportioned  forms  do  not  allow  of  close 
examination.  The  same  may  bo  said  of  another  monument  in 
this  church,  which  Joanna  employed  Ciccione  to  erect  to  the 
memory  of  her  lover  Gian  Carracciolo,  who  after  ruling  Naples 
with  royal  power  and  state  was   murdered  by  a  band  of  con- 

*  Among  anonymous  works  of  the  fourteentli  century  at  Naples,  we 
may  mention  an  ex-voto  bas-relief  on  the  outside  of  the  church  of  St. 
Peter  Martyr,  dedicated  by  Franceschino  da  Brignole,  after  he  had  for 
a  second  time  escaped  shipwreck,  in  1361.  Poor  as  a  work  of  art,  it  ia 
interesting  for  its  subject — "  the  Dance  of  Death." 

f  There  are  no  certain  data  as  to  the  author  of  this  tomb.  Ciccione 
ia  not  mentioned  by  Summonte  {Historia  della  ClttCi  c  Uerjiio  di  Napuli), 
Colano  or  Eugenic  Carracciolo  (NapoU  Sacra).  All  that  we  know  about 
him  rests  upon  the  doubtful  testimony  of  Cresconius  and  de'  Dominici. 
Ladislaus  was  a  proud,  ambitious,  prodigal,  and  dissipated  man,  who 
died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty  six,  a.d.  1414.     {See  Schultz.  iii.  80.) 


Andrea  Ciccione,  171 

spirators  on  the  14tli  of  August,  1432.*  Bad  in  design,  and 
gaudy  in  colour,  it  lias  but  one  original  feature,  the  represen- 
tation of  the  Virtues  in  the  guise  of  armed  knights,  who  bear 
up  the  sarcophagus,  on  the  top  of  which  stands  a  rigid  portrait 
statue  of  the  deceased  Seneschal,  coloured  to  resemble  life. 

Little  as  there  is  to  praise  in  Ciccione's  works,  there  is  even 
less  in  those  of  his  contemporary,  Antonio  di  Domenico  da 
Bamboccio,  who  was  born  at  Piperno  in  1351  and  died  at 
Naples  about  1422.  His  warm  admirer,  the  Cardinal  Enrico 
Minutolo,  was  so  delighted  with  the  florid  Gothic  fa9ade  of 
San  Giovanni  a  Pappacoda,  and  the  portal  of  the  Cathedral 
at  Naples  which  Bamboccio  had  '  completed  in  1407,  that  he 
made  him  Abbot  of  a  convent  near  the  city,  with  a  revenue 
of  400  ducats  a  year,  Bamboccio  sculptured  his  patron's 
tomb  and  that  of  Cardinal  Carbonef  in  the  Cathedral,  as  well 
as  that  of  Margaret  of  Durazzo  (d.  1412)  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Salerno,  all  of  which  have  the  curtained  recess,  the  recumbent 
effigy,  the  watching  angels,  the  Gothic  canopy,  and  the  sarco- 
phagus supported  by  statues  of  the  Virtues,  seen  in  already 
described  tombs  at  Santa  Chiara.  By  these  works,  and  by  the 
tomb  of  Lodovico  Aldamaresco  (d.  1414)  in  the  cloister  of  San 
Lorenzo,  which  according  to  the  inscription  upon  it,  Bamboccio 
sculptured  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  he  did  little  to 
increase  his  reputation  either  as  sculptor  or  architect.  His 
technic  and  taste  were  alike  defective,  and  his  stvle  was  either 
cold  and  uninteresting,  or  extravagant  and  confused. 

The  simplicity  and  absence  of  pretension,  which  somewhat 
redeemed  the  monotonous  and  formal   style  of  the  school   in 

*  Lionardo  di  Bisuccio,  a  Milanese  artist,  gilded  this  monument  as  well 
as  tliat  of  Ladislaus ;  and  Scilla,  a  sculptor  from  Milan,  worked  with 
Ciccione  upon  both. 

t  Cardinal  Carbone,  a  Neapolitan  patrician,  and  the  reputed  nephew 
of  Pope  Boniface  IX.,  was  a  Cistercian  monk,  renowed  from  his  youth 
for  learning  and  devotion  to  the  Eomish  Church.  He  filled  many- 
offices  of  trust  under  Popes  Urban  V.  and  Boniface  IX.,  and  died  at 
Bome  A.D.  1405.  (Cardella,  Memorie  del  Cardinally  ii.  297.)  The 
tomb  of  Cardinal  Minutolo  is  in  the  Minutolo  chapel  above  the 
altar.  The  baldacchino  is  ascribed  by  de'  Dominici  to  Masuccio  II.,  but 
we  believe  it  to  be  by  Bamboccio,  as  its  sculj^tures  are  in  the  same  ^tyle 
as  the  altar-tomb.  The  simple  sarcophagi  on  either  side  of  the  altar, 
with  recumbent  effigies,  reliefs  of  saints  in  roundels  and  mosaics,  are 
probably  by  Masuccio  IL 


1 72    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctilptiire. 

"ttliich  he  was  bred,  were  the  fruit  of  Tuscan  influence,  but  while 
Tino,  Sancius,  and  Johannes,  who  visited  Naples  during  tho 
fourteenth  century,  exercised  a  favourable  influence  upon  art, 
their  Tuscan  successors  in  the  fifteenth,  though  infinitely 
superior  to  them  in  ability,  left  it  much  as  they  found  it.  It 
was  but  a  few  years  after  Bamboccio's  death  that  Donatello  and 
Michelozzo  erected  the  noble  tomb  of  Cardinal  Brancacci  in  tho 
church  of  Sant  Angelo  a  Nilo  (1427),  while  later  in  the  century 
both  Antonio  Eossellino  and  Benedetto  da  Majano  worked  at 
Monte  Oliveto,  Giuliano  da  Majano  built  the  portal  of  Santa 
.Barbara,  and  other  foreign  sculptors  aided  in  decorating  the 
superb  triumphal  arch  over  the  entrance  to  Castelnuovo,  which 
commemorated  the  accession  of  Alfonso  of  Aragon,  and  the 
defeat  of  his  rival  Bene  d'Anjou  whom  Queen  Joanna  had 
designated  as  her  heir  to  the  throne  of  Naples. 

The  erection  of  a  triumphal  arch  in  Alfonso's  honour  had 
teen  decreed  by  the  municipal  authorities  the  year  after  he  had 
seized  upon  Naples  (1443),  but  it  cannot  have  been  commenced 
until  eight  years  later,  when  the  great  round  towers  between 
which  it  stands  were  completed.  It  has  four  storeys,  the  three 
lower  pierced  with  arches,  and  the  upper  decorated  with  niches 
containing  statuettes  of  the  Virtues.  While  every  part  of  its 
surface  is  covered  with  masks,  lions'  heads,  "putti,"  "  amorini,'* 
festoons  and  leaf-ornament,  its  most  important  sculptures  are 
the  alto-reliefs  of  Alfonso  and  his  armed  knights,  which  though 
somewhat  formally  composed,  are  highly  effective,  and  of  great 
historical  value.  The  King  is  represented  thrice :  standing  bare- 
headed with  a  dog  lying  at  his  feet,  fully  armed  with  a  helmet  on 
his  head,  and  borne  in  triumph  upon  a  car  like  a  Roman  general. 
Other  more  strictly  decorative  reliefs,  such  as  those  of  the  genii 
Vi'hich  support  the  royal  arms,  were  evidently  sculptured  by  an 
artist  bred  in  the  school  of  Donatello,  and  as  his  pupil  Andrra 
dair  Aquila  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  many  sculptors  who 
worked  upon  tlie  arch,  we  may  attribute  them  to  him  with  somo 
plausibility.  A  mortuary  inscription  (1470)  at  Santa  Maria 
Nuova*  names  as  the  architect  who  built  the  arch  and  was  there- 
fore knighted  by  the  King,Pietro  di  Martino  of  Milan,  who  is  else- 
where mentioned  as  one  of  the  sculptors  who  decorated  it  with 

*  Commentary   to   the   Life  0/  Giuliano   da  Majano.     Vasari,   ed. 
Milanesi.  vol.  ii.  p.  483. 


Naples.  173 

bas-reliefs  and  statues  between  1456  and  1471.*  His  associates 
were  Antonio  and  Isaia  da  Pisa,f  Domenico  di  Montemignano, 
Dcmenico  Lombardo,  and  Francesco  Azzara.  To  these,  other 
authorities  add  Salvestro  and  Andrea  dall'  Aquila,  Desiderio 
da  Settignano  and  Benedetto  da  Majano.  The  river  gods, 
masks  and  statuettes  upon  the  attic,  in  the  late  Renaissance 
style,  are  by  Giovanni  Merliano  da  Nola,  a  Neapolitan  sculptor 
of  whom  we  shall  speak  in  another  chapter. 


ROME. 

The  example  set  by  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  in  the  ciborium  at 
St.  Paul's  I  was  followed  by  Giovanni  Cosmati,  who  giving  up 
the  classical  traditions  of  his  family  §  while  he  preserved  their 
decorative  system,  erected  the  two  fine  Gothic  tombs,  of  Car- 
dinal Gonsalvi  at  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore  and  of  Bishop  Durante 
at  Sta.  Maria  sopra  Minerva,  between  129G  and  1303.  Their 
main  features  are  the  canopied  recess  with  mosaic  background 
in  which  lies  the  sepulchral  effigy,  watched  over  by  curtain- 
drawing  angels,  upon  a  sarcophagus  decorated  with  coats  of 
arms  and  ornaments  in  geometrical  patterns.  Other  works  of 
the  same  class  by  Giovanni  and  Adeodatus  Cosmati,  or  the  Pas- 
quale  who  made  the  pulpit  and  paschal  candlestick  at  Sta. 
Maria  in  Cosmedin,  are  the  tombs  of  Don  S.  Surdi  at  Sta. 
Balbina,  of  Cardinal  Anchora  at  Sta.  Prassede,  of  Boni- 
face VIII.  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter's,  of  the  Cardinal  d'Ac- 
quasparta  at  Ara  Coeli,  and  the  tomb  of  the  Gaetani  in  theii 
chapel  in  the  Cathedral  at  Anagni  where  the  paschal  candle- 

*  Gli  artisii  ed  artcfici  che  lavoravano  in  Castehiuova  a  tempo  di 
Alfonso  I.  e  Ferrante  I.  Napoli,  1876,  by  Camillo  Minucio  Riccio. 

f  Isaia  di  Pippo  da  Pisa  ou  whom  Porcello  of  Padua  wrote  a  poem,  in 
which  he  enumerates  five  of  his  works— viz.,  the  tomb  of  Eugenius  IV. 
afc  S.  Salvatore  in  Lauro,  Eome;  the  arch  of  Triumi^h  at  ISTaples;  the 
tomb  of  Sta.  Monica,  formerly  in  S.  Agostino,  Rome;  equestrian  statues 
of  Nero  and  Poppea;  and  a  group  of  the  A^irgiu  and  Child  with  angels. 
Isaia  was  commissioned  with  Mine  da  Fiesole,  Paolo  Romano  and  Pagno 
to  sculpture  the  balcony  of  the  benediction  at  St.  Peter's;  and  with 
Paolo  Romano  to  make  a  tabernacle  for  S.  Andrea.  The  last  papal 
record  of  his  name  is  August  29,  UQi.     Eugene  Muntz,  op.  cit.  p,  257. 

+  See  ch.  ii.  p.  23. 

§  Bee  Introduction,  pp.  Ivi.  and  IviL 


1 74     Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculphtre, 

Btick  is  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Vassaletto.  But  two  native 
Roman  artists  of  the  fifteenth  century  are  known  to  us,  Paolo 
Romano  or  Mariano*  and  Gian  Cristoforo  Eomano  who  worked 
at  the  Certosa  of  Pavia  in  1473. f 

Paolo  Romano  is  mentioned  by  Antonio  Filarete  in  his  MS. 
Treatise  on  Architecture,!  as  the  goldsmith  who  designed  and 
cast  twelve  silver  statuettes  of  the  Apostles  fcr  the  altar  of  the 
papal  chapel  at  St.  Peter's,  which  were  destroyed  during  the 
Back  of  Rome  in  1527.  The  works  attributed  to  him  at  Rome 
are  a  statue  of  St.  Paul§  on  the  Ponte  St.  Angelo,  Avhich 
though  somewhat  dry  in  style  is  pure  in  line  and  well  draped, 
the  tomb  of  Fra  Bartolomeo  Caraffa,  chamberlain  to  Innocent 
VII.,  in  the  church  of  the  Knights  of  Malta  on  the  Aventine, 
and  the  monument  of  Cardinal  Stefaneschi  at  Santa  Maria  in 
Trastevere.  |  As  both  the  occupants  of  these  Gothic  tombs 
died  before  1420,  and  Paolo  Romano  is  not  heard  of  at  Rome 
before  1451,  they  cannot  be  liis  work,  and  we  are  forced  to 
suppose  that  the  Magister  Paulus  whose  name  is  inscribed 
upon  the  first  tomb,  was  another  sculptor  of  the  same  name.^ 
The  knight,  grasping  the  handle  of  his  sword,  lies  dressed  in 
armour  on  the  top  of  a  sarcophagus,  whose  front  is  divided  by 
twisted  columns  into  panels  containing  the  arms  of  the  deceased 
and  a  mortuary  inscription  in  Gothic  letters.  Cardinal  Stefan- 
eschi also  lies  upon  a  sarcophagus  adorned  with  an  inscription 

*  Papal  archives  mention  him  from  1451  to  1463.  Eugene  Miintz, 
O'p.  cit.  p.  245. 

+  Lomazzo,  Le  Ch'ottesche,  book  iii.,  speaks  of  Gian  Cristoforo  as  a 
painter,  and  Cicogna,  Isc.  Ven.  iii.  640,  quotes  his  epitaph,  which  states 
that  he  died  at  Loreto  in  1525.  At  the  Certosa  he  worked  upon  the 
tomb  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Yisconti,  designed  by  G.  Pellegrino,  of  Milan. 

;!;  See  chapter  vi.  p.  114. 

§  Made  for  Pius  11.  and  originally  placed  at  St.  Peter's  before  the 
cbapel  of  Sixtus  IV. 

II  Petrus  Stefaneschi  de  Annibaldis  was  nominated  acolyte  of  the 
Papal  chapel  and  apostolic  protouotary  by  Pope  Boniface  IX.  at  an  early 
age;  Innnocent  Vll.  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal-deacon  of 
Sant'  Angelo;  and  Pope  John  XXIIL,  when  he  was  obliged  to  appear 
before  the  Council  at  Constance,  left  him  in  charge  of  the  Papal  dominions 
as  Temporal  Vicar  of  Pome.  Memorie  Storiche  dei  Cardinali,  Cardella, 
ii.  230,  330.     See  also  Ciacconius,  ii.  723. 

^  Eugene  Miintz,  op.  cit.  p.  249.  This  author  mentions  a  statue  of 
St.  Andrew  by  Paolo  Eomano  (1463)  iu  a  church  outside  the  Porta  del 
Popolo. 


Paolo  Romano.  175 

and  with  two  cardinal's  bats  in  relief,  under  a  marble  canojiy 
decorated  witb  a  frieze  of  coloured  mosaic.  Tbc  bas-relief 
upon  tbe  monument  of  the  French  cardinal  Philippe  d'Alen- 
9on,*  in  the  same  church,  which  resembles  the  Stefaneschi 
tomb  in  general  arrangement  and  is  possibly  by  the  same  artist, 
represents  the  dying  prelate  surrounded  by  angels  bearing 
tapers,  and  by  priests,  one  of  whom,  an  apostolic-looking  figure, 
holds  a  child  in  swaddling  clothes  in  his  arms,  typical  of  tho 
dj'ing  man's  soul. 

Vasari  speaks  of  a  highly-praised  statue  by  Paolo  Komano 
at  St.  Peter's  of  an  armed  man  on  horseback,  and  the  epitaph 
placed  upon  his  tomb  mentions  his  statue  of  Cupid.  He 
retired  from  the  world  shortly  before  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  spent  his 
remaining  days  in  solitude  and  peace. 

Among  the  best  anonymous  works  of  the  fifteenth  century  at 
Rome  is  a  marble  "  dossale,"  or  altar-piece,  in  the  Cappella 
Salviati  at  San  Gregorio,  which  was  sculptured  in  14G9  for  a 
Roman  abbot  of  the  monastery,  who  is  represented  in  the 
principal  relief  kneeling  before  the  Madonna  to  receive  the 
blessing  of  the  Infant  Christ,  who  sits  between  t.vo  adoring 
angels,  while  two  flying  angels  above  her  bear  a  pyx.  Tho 
archivolt  is  adorned  with  a  glory  of  cherubs,  the  entablature 
with  three  small  bas-reliefs  representing  priests  and  people 
entering  a  temple,  and  the  lunette  with  a  bas-relief  of  God  the 
Father  surrounded  by  angels.  Four  statuettes  of  saints  are 
placed  above  the  side  columns,  between  which  stand  SS. 
Gregory  and  John  in  niches.  The  two  roundels  below  the 
entablature  contain  reliefs  of  the  Madonna  and  the  Angel  of 
the  Annunciation,  and  angels  are  also  introduced  in  the  span- 
drils  of  the  central  arch,  while  below  the  altar-piece  on  either 
side  of  the  marble  base  are  statuettes  in  niches  of  a  bishop  and 
a  female  saint.  This  interesting  work,  which  was  evidently 
sculptured  under  Tuscan  influence,  has  been  much  injured  by 
restoration.  Other  works  of  its  class  are  a  stiacciato  relief  of 
the  Entombment  in  the  style  of  Donatello,  over  the  altar  of 
the  Madonna  delle  Febbre  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Beneficiati  at 

*  Cardinal  Philippe,  who  belonged  to  the  Royal  house  of  Valois,  waa 
made  Bishop  of  Beauvais  and  Archbishop  of  Rouen  at  a  very  early  age, 
1359. 


176    Histo7dcal  Handbook  of  Italiaji  SailptiLve, 

St.  Peter's,  a  bas-relief  of  the  Crucifixion  in  the  oratory  of 
S.  Venanzio,  belonging  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
monument  of  Pietro  Piiario,  raised  to  his  memory  by  Pope 
Sixtus  V.  (1465)  at  the  SS.  Apostoli,  a  bas-relief  of  St.  Peter 
and  the  angel  at  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  and  another,  supposed 
to  represent  Leo  the  Great,  at  the  Lateran,  which  was  probably 
executed  during  the  reign  of  Sixtus  IV.  (1404-1471). 

LOMBARD  Y. 

MILAN,    PAVIA,    CREMOI^A,  &C, 

An  account  has  been  already  given  in  our  Introductory  Chapter 
of  the  condition  of  sculpture  throughout  Lombardy  during  the 
thirteenth  and  the  greater  part  of  the  fourteenth  centuries, 
when  the  scholars  of  Balduccio  of  Pisa  sustained  the  reputa- 
tion of  Tuscany  in  the  north  of  Italy.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  fourteenth  century  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti'*  gave  an 
immense  impulse  to  architecture  and  sculpture  by  founding  the 
Cathedral  at  Milan  and  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  in  whose  con- 
struction and  adornment  nearly  all  the  most  capable  Italian 
architects  of  the  time  were  called  upon  to  take  part,  and  by 
opening  schools  connected  with  the  great  building,  where  many 
young  architects  and  sculptors  were  trained  to  assist  them. 

In  1375  Galeazzo  had  made  a  vow  that  he  would  build  a 
splendid  cathedral  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  if  he  succeeded  in 
making  himself  master  of  Milan,  and  when  he  began  the  work 
the  very  year  after  the  accomplishment  of  his  ambitious  schemes 
(1386),  he  gave  to  the  "Fabbrica"  the  marble  quarries  of 
Gaudolia,f  a  mountain  near  the  Lago  Maggiore,  with  a  revenue 
to  be  spent  in  working  them. 

There  appears  to  be  no  doubt  that  its  first  architect  was 
Marco  Frisone  da  Campionel  one  of  the  five  Campiones  origin- 

*  Gian  Galeazzo  son  of  Galeazzo  II.,  first  married  Isabella,  daughter 
of  the  French  king  Charles  VI.,  and  at  her  death  Caterina  Viscouti 
daughter  of  Bernabo  (Cantu,  op.  cit.  ii.  8i3).  He  derived  his  title  of 
Comte  di  Vertii  from  a  French  "  feud  "  brought  to  him  in  dower  by  his 
first  wife  (Verri,  i.  387 1. 

f  Named  also  "  Candolin,"  pei'haps  from  the  whiteness  of  the  marbia 
extracted  from  it  (Ginlini,  v.  691). 

X  An  inscription  upon  the  duom.o  states  that  it  was  begun  in  1386 
(Calvi,  op.  cit.  Vita  di  Marco  da  Campione,  p.  76).     Torre,  Bitmtij  dl 


The  Certosa  and  the  Cathedral.  177 

uUy  attached  to  the  "  Veneranda  Fabbrica  "  (a  body  of  architects 
and  sculptors  constituted  and  presided  over  by  the  duke),*  though 
his  claims  to  this  honour  have  been  long  disputed  by  a  German 
architect  named  Heinrich  von  Gmunden,  one  of  Marco's  asso- 
ciates, who  shortly  after  his  death  expressed  grave  doubts  as  to 
the  solidity  of  the  edifice,  and  being  unable  to  sustain  his 
point,  returned  to  Germany. 

As  the  duke  had  begun  the  Cathedral  at  Milan  the  vear 
after  he  had  seized  upon  the  throne,  he  marked  the  legalisation 
of  that  act  by  founding  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  as  a  new  and 
splendid  thank-offering  to  heaven.  Bernardo  da  Venezia,  its 
head  architect,  is  mentioned  in  a  lately  discovered  document  as 
having  superintended  the  digging  of  its  foundations,  and  accumu- 
lated materials  for  its  construction  about  a  month  before  the  cor- 
ner-stone was  laid  with  great  pomp  by  the  duke  (August  27th, 
1396),  in  presence  of  the  Bishops  of  Pavia,  Novara,  Feltre, 
and  Vicenza,  and  many  other  illustrious  persons. f  Three  years 
later  the  edifice  was  so  far  completed  that  mass  was  celebrated 
within  the  walls. | 

Milano,  says  the  7th  of  May,  1387.  In  1388  it  was  decided  to  cover  the 
walls  with  marble  (vide  Calvi,  p.  77  ;  Ricci,  ii.  382  ;  and  Giulini,  v.  690, 
693-4).  That  the  building  was  roofed  in  and  ready  for  divine  service  in 
1395  is  proved  by  a  record  of  payment  to  an  organist  for  his  services 
during  tlie  mass  (Mem.  de.lV  Arch.  Civ.),  July  10,  1395. 

*  Sig.  Calvi,  Note  sidle  Vite  (pt.  i.  p.  65,  Life  of  Marco  da  Campione), 
shows  that  though  the  duke  protected  the  arts  by  opening  an  academy 
of  design  in  his  own  palace,  and  knew  enough  about  architecture  to  be 
able  to  speak  intelligently  upon  it  with  the  best  professors,  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  assertion  of  Borsieri  that  he  was  capable  of  designing 
such  a  building.  Ricci,  op.  cit.  ii.  385,  does  not  consider  Marco's  claim  as 
fully  substantiated;  but  he  rejects  that  of  Heinrich  von  Gmunden,  and 
concludes  in  favour  of  one  of  the  Italian  architects. 

t  Codex  discovered  in  the  archivio  of  San  Fedele  at  Milan  by  Sig, 
Girolamo  Calvi  (viJe  La  Fondazione  delta  Certosa,  by  Sig.  Calvi,  a 
pamphlet  printed  at  Milan  in  1862) ;  see  also  the  life  of  Bernardo  da 
Venezia  (probably  so  called  from  a  long  residence  in  Venice),  in  pt.  i. 
p.  103  of  Sig.  Calvi's  Kotizie,  &c.  Milan,  1859. 

J  Gian  Gaieazzo  largely  endowed  the  Certosa  in  his  lifetime,  and  in 
his  will  left  a  certain  sum,  the  income  from  which  was  to  be  exjiended  on 
the  church  and  convent  until  their  completion,  and  after  that  to  be 
given  to  the  poor.  Ricci,  ii.  401.  The  Certosa  was  built  in  a  part  of 
the  park  of  Mirobello,  the  remainder  of  which  was  Icept  as  a  ducal  pre- 
serve. The  circuit  of  the  high  walls  which  surrounded  it  was  twenty 
miles.     Ricci,  op.  cit.  ii.  399. 

N 


173    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

In  artistic  interest  it  far  surpasses  the  Cathedral,  for  while  it 
IS  a  perfect  miTseum  of  sculpture  by  the  best  artists  of  the  Lom- 
bard school,  there  is  hardly  one  good  work  of  art  among  the 
myriad  statues  that  cover  the  roof,  crown  the  pinnacles,  and  fill 
the  niches  of  its  rival  at  Milan.  Few  Italian  churches  indeed 
can  compare  in  effect  with  the  Certosa,  whose  stillness  is  broken 
only  by  the  hushed  tread  of  some  white-robed  monk,  who  pass- 
ing on  leaves  the  visitor  to  scan  every  detail  of  the  fagade  and 
its  richly  sculptured  portals,  the  interior  with  its  paintings 
and  marbles,  tombs,  and  exquisite  doorAvays,  and  the  vast 
cloisters  with  their  bas-reliefs  and  terra-cottas,  carved  capitals 
and  cornices.* 

These  were  for  the  most  part  executed  under  the  successors 
of  Gian  Galeazzo,  but  the  Cathedra]  at  Milan  contains  some 
works  of  his  time,  such  as  the  richly-sculi)tured  Gothic  doors 
of  the  sacristies,  designed  (1395)  by  a  sculptor  from  Fribourg 
named  Annex  di  Fernach,  and  completed  by  the  Milanese 
sculptors  Giovanni  and  Perrino  de'  Grassi.  The  first  of  these 
artists,  known  as  Giovanni  da  Milano,f  a  painter  of  con- 
siderable reputation  and  merit,  went  from  Milan  with  Giotto, 
whose  influence  is  plainly  visible  in  the  heads  upon  the  flat 
spaces  and  architraves  of  both  these  doors,  to  Florence,  and 
there  entered  the  studio  of  his  scholar  Taddeo  Gaddi,  under 
whom  he  afterwards  worked  in  various  parts  of  Italy.  The 
two  bas-reliefs  upon  the  northern  door  represent  Christ  between 

*  The  groimd  plan  of  the  Certosa,  lite  that  of  the  duomo  at  Milan, 
is  in  the  shape  of  a  Latin  cross.  The  central  portion  of  the  building, 
that  first  erected,  is  Gothic ;  the  apse  shows  signs  of  the  transition 
period  from  Gothic  to  Renaissance,  the  facade,  which  belongs  to  the 
fifteenth  century,  is  completely  Renaissance  or  Bramantesque.  Bramante 
Lazzari,  or  Bramantino  "  1'  antico,"  is  neither  to  be  confounded  with  his 
continuator  Bramante  d'  Urbino,  nor  with  Bartolomeo  Suardi.  He  was 
like  Brunellcschi  in  Tuscany  the  propagator  of  the  classical  revival  in 
Lombardy,  which  took  place  there  much  later  on  account  of  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country  after  the  death  of  Gian  Galeazzo.  Vasari  in  his 
life  of  Pietro  della  Francesca  and  Girolamo  da  Carpi,  xi.  268,  confounds 
the  two  Bramantes,  as  Calvi  plainly  shows  in  his  life  of  Bramantino 
Lazzari,  Notizie,  &c.  pt.  ii. 

t  Calvi  says  Giovanni's  family  name  was  Grassi,  op.  cit.  pt.  i.  p.  96. 
A  document  published  in  the  ArcMvio  Storico  Italiani,  1858,  ii.  65,  men- 
tiopp,  him  as  Johannes  Jacobi  Mediolano,  and  Cavalcaselle,  Hist,  of 
Italian  Painting,  vol.  i.  pp.  402-8,  note  2,  adopts  this  statement  and 
calls  him  Giovanni  Jacobi. 


The  Cathedral  at  Milan.  179 

the  Virgin  and  St.  John  and  the  Assumption  of  the  Madonna, 
and  those  upon  the  southern,  the  Madonna  della  Miseri- 
cordia,  the  Virgin  seated  between  two  kneeHng  saints,  and  the 
Deposition.  Tlie  broad  archivoUs  are  adorned  with  rehefs  of 
the  Annunciation,  the  Visitation,  tbe  Adoration,  the  Presenta- 
tion, the  Flight  into  Egypt,  and  the  Massacre  of  the  Inno- 
cents ;  the  side  posts  are  covered  by  elaborately  -  adorned 
pinnacles,  and  the  central  arches  are  surmounted  by  heavy 
crockets  and  finials.*  Another  interesting  work  of  this  time  in 
the  Cathedral,  is  the  tomb  of  Marco  Carelli,  a  wealthy  Milanese, 
who  gave  thirty-five  thousand  ducats  to  the  Fabbrica  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  enjoy  the  interest  derived  from  it  during 
his  life,  and  that  a  monument  should  be  raised  to  his  memory 
in  a  chapel  built  for  the  purpose  in  the  Campo-Santo.f  After 
his  death  at  Venice,  the  directors  sent  a  special  envoy  to  bring 
his  body  to  Milan,  and  emploj'ed  Filippino  degli  Organi,  son 
of  Andrea  da  Modena,  to  build  the  chapel  and  design  the  monu- 
ment.! The  statuettes  in  Gothic  niches  upon  its  sides  were 
probably  sculptured  by  Niccolo  di  Piero  de'  Lamberti  from 
Arezzo,  who  came  to  Milan  after  he  had  unsucessfully  competed 
for  the  gates  of  the  baptistry  at  Florence  1401,  and  executed 
several  much  admired  works. §    Gian  Galeazzo  died  (1402)  in  the 

*  See  plate  xvi.  p.  80  ia  Franchetti's  work  on  the  duomo  di  Milano. 
Calvi,  2).  96,  note  1,  says  that  Giovanni  de'  Grassi  made  the  sculptures 
set  into  the  wall  over  the  left  portal  of  the  Duomo  in  1395,  and  that  those 
in  Verona  marble  are  by  one  of  the  Campionesi. 

t  In  1393,  the  year  before  Carelli's  death,  the  deputies  asked  and 
obtained  his  consent  to  raise  funds  for  the  continuation  of  the  works  at 
the  Cathedral  by  the  sale  of  part  of  his  property  on  condition  that  they 
should  pay  him  a  reasonable  income  derived  from  other  sources.  After- 
wards with  commendable  liberality  they  permitted  him  to  dispose  of  a 
mill  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  him,  in  order  to  raise  a  dowry  for 
his  daughter.  In  the  seventeenth  centur}'  his  monument  was  removed  to 
the  Cathedral. 

X  Calvi,  op.  cit.  p.  152,  states  his  belief  that  Filippino  did  not  design 
the  whole  work.  Franchetti,  o-p.  cit.  pp.  102-103,  says  that  he  found  a 
record  in  the  archives  to  the  effect  that  Filippino  designed  the  monument, 
and  an  unknown  sculptor  executed  it.  Cicognara,  vol.  ii.  pi.  x.  gives  two 
statuettes  from  the  tomb.  It  is  mentioned  by  the  Conte  Nava,  p.  37, 
and  by  Giulini,  v.  789. 

§  Vasari,  vol.  iii.  p.  39,  note  2,  says  there  is  no  doubt  about  Lamberti's 
visit  to  Milan,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  assisted  at  the  council  held  in 
1D87  to  discuss  the  stability  of  the  works.     But  it  is  doubtful  if  he  was 

N    2 


i8o    Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sciilptn^'e. 

midst  of  his  great  schemes,  when  the  Cathedral  and  the  Certosa 
were  daily  growing  under  his  eyes,  when  master  of  the  greater 
part  of  Lomhardy,  the  Romagna,  and  Tuscany,  he  only  awaited 
the  surrender  of  Florence  to  put  on  the  royal  mantle  and  dia- 
dem already  prepared  for  the  ceremony  of  his  coronation  as 
King  of  Italy,  and  so  closely  did  the  complete  dismemberment 
of  his  well-nigh  constituted  kingdom  follow  upon  his  death, 
that  within  two  years  his  sons,  Giovanni  and  Filippo-Maria, 
were  obliged  to  shut  themselves  up  for  safety  in  the  castles  of 
Milan  and  Pavia.  As  both  were  under  age  at  their  father's 
death,  the  State  was  first  administered  by  their  mother  the 
Duchess  Caterina,  who  being  utterly  unable  to  make  head 
against  foreign  and  internal  enemies,  at  last  retreated  to  a 
convent  at  Monza,  where  she  died.  Giovanni,  who  succeeded 
to  a  mere  remnant  of  power,  w^as  a  monster  in  human  shape 
whose  life  was  fitly  terminated  by  the  poniards  of  his  outraged 
subjects  after  a  reign  of  ten  years,  during  which  the  greater 
part  of  the  native  artists  whom  his  father  had  collected  around 
him  at  Milan  had  gone  to  seek  emj)lo3'ment  elsewhere,  leaving 
their  places  about  the  Cathedral  to  be  filled  by  inferior  German 
workmen.  His  successor,  Filippo-Maria,  was  weak,  cruel,  and 
ungrateful,  and  rather  tolerated  than  loved  the  men  of  note  who 
flourished  at  Milan  during  the  thirty-five  years  of  his  reign  ;  * 
still  he  did  something  for  art,  by  building  the  great  cloister  of 
the  Certosa  which  bears  his  name,  by  commissioning  Pisanello 
to  make  that  admirable  portrait  medal  which  has  rendered  his 
features  so  familiar  to  us,f  and  by  patronising  the  only  sculptor 

permanently  attached  to  the  Fabbrica.  There  was  a  Niccolo  Selli 
d'  Arezzo  in  the  service  of  Giau  Galeazzo  in  1397,  with  whom  he  is  per- 
haps to  be  identified  (see  Cicognara,  i.  400  et  seq.). 

*  So  says  his  biographer  Pietro  Candido  Decembrio,  a  distinguished 
savant  and  president  of  the  republic  after  the  death  of  Filippo  Maria. 
When  it  was  overthrown  by  Francesco  Sforza,  he  retired  to  Rome  and 
Naples  where  he  was  protected  by  Pope  Nicliolas  V.  and  Alfonso  of 
Aragon,  but  he  finally  returned  to  Milan  and  died  there".  Pisanello  made 
an  admirable  medal  of  him  (eng.  in  Trcsors  de  Numismatigue,  ]>].  vi.  no.  2). 
Verri,  Storia  cli  Milano,  i.  442,  concludes  that  Filippo-Maria  was  a 
*'  principe  da  nulla."  Giulini,  vi.  228,  says  that  facts  and  the  assertions 
of  Decembrio  do  not  show  him  to  have  been  a  great  protector  of  letters 
iilthongh  Sassi  and  Argellati  declare  him  to  have  been  another 
Augustus. 

t  This  medal  ia  engraved  in  the  Tresors  de  Numismatique,  pi.  i.  no.  3, 


yacopino  da   Tradate,  iSi 

of  note  at  Milan  during  the  first  half  of  the  century,  Jacopino 
da  Tradate,  who  ^YOIked  at  the  Cathedral  as  early  as  1410, 
but  was  not  regularly  attached  to  the  "  Fabbrica  "  until  1415. 
Three  years  later,  the  then  newly  elected  Pope  Martin  V., 
arrived  at  Milan  on  the  18th  of  October,  "  en  route  "  from 
Constance  to  Rome,  and  after  being  escorted  into  the  city  by 
the  duke  and  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens  of  high  and  low 
degree,  consecrated  the  High  Altar  of  the  Cathedral  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  number  of  spectators.  After  his 
departure,  Jacopino  was  appointed  to  represent  him  in  bronze 
and  of  colossal  dimensions  for  the  Cathedral,  and  modelled  a 
statue  of  the  Pope  robed  in  full  pontificals  sitting  in  a  dig- 
nified and  natural  pose  upon  a  throne  with  the  keys  in  one 
hand,  and  with  the  other  raised  in  benediction.  The  inscription 
on  the  base  lauds  the  sculptor  as  "  not  inferior  but  superior  to 
Praxiteles,"  whose  merits,  it  is  needless  to  say,  were  matters  of 
pure  speculation  to  the  writer.  The  statue,  in  sober  truth,  like 
the  half  figure  of  God  the  Father  in  the  roof  of  the  apse,  shows 
little  else  than  that  Jacopino  was  a  good  bronze  caster,  but  the 
tomb  of  Pietro  Torello  at  S.  Eustorgio,  one  of  the  best  works 
of  its  class  at  Milan,  if  it  be  his  work  as  supposed,  proves  his 
merit  as  a  monumental  sculptor.*  He  spent  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  in  the  service  of  the  Duke  Francesco  Gonzaga,  at 
Mantua,  where  he  died  about  1440.  Among  his  pupils  were 
his  son  Samuel, f  Isacco  da  Imbonate,  Antonio  da  Pandino, 
and  Gasparo  da  Carona. 

In  the  latter  part  of  Filippo-Maria's  reign  a  new  school  of 
sculpture  developed  itself  at  Milan,  whose  peculiarities  seem  to 
denote  a  Flemish  influence,  not  by  any  means  improbable.  Like 
the  painters  of  the  Van  Eyck  school,  +  Omodeo,  the  Mante- 

andin  Alois  Heiss,  op.  cit.  p.  13;  tlie  duke  is  represented  on  the  reverse  as 
armed,  and  climbing  a  rocky  path  on  horseback,  followed  by  a  mounted  page. 

*  Libro  di  Memorie  e  Documenti,  Calvi,  op.  cit.  pt.  i.  p.  139. 

f  Who  set  up  a  mortuary  tablet  to  his  lather  in  the  cloisters  of  St, 
Agnese. 

J  The  works  of  these  painters  were  not  unknown  in  Italy  at  the  time. 
Pope  Martin  V.  in  1-130  gave  an  altar-piece  by  Rogier  Van  der  Weydea 
to  the  King  of  Spain ;  and  Folco  Portinari,  envoy  of  the  Jledici  at 
Bruges,  caused  Hugo  Van  der  Goes  to  paint  an  altar-piece  for  tho 
hospital  of  Sta.  Maria  Nuova  at  Florence  (see  Manuel  de  VHistoire  de 
la  Peinture,  by  Dr.  Waagen,  i.  127,  137,  Ecoles  allemandes.     Traduction 


1 82    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

gazza,  and  other  Milanese  sculptors  indulged  in  violent  action, 
exaggerated  facial  expression  sometimes  to  the  verge  of  grimace, 
and  gave  inordinate  length  of  limb  to  their  figures,  which  they 
clothed  in  closely  clinging  draperies,  properly  called  cartaceous 
from  their  resemblance  to  wet  paper.  These  were  perhaps  first 
employed  at  Milan  by  Agostino  da  Bramante,  called  Bramante 
the  younger,*  who  according  to  Lomazzo  was  accustomed  to 
paint  from  paper  and  linen  models,  artificially  shaped  into  sharp 
cornered  angular  folds  by  means  of  paste  and  glue.f 

The  works  of  the  new  school  are  distinguished  from  those 
of  the  old  by  these  novelties  in  treatment,  and  also  by  superior 
drawing,  greater  refinement,  and  a  tendency  to  flatness  of  sur- 
face, improvements  which  may  fairly  be  traced  to  the  influence 
of  the  Tuscan  artists  who  visited  Milan  in  the  course  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

The  most  important  among  these  were  Brunelleschi,  who 
designed  a  fortress  for  Filippo-Maria,  and  on  his  second  visit 
made  many  designs  for  him  and  for  the  artists  employed  about 
the  Cathedral ;  Michelozzo,  who,  as  we  have  already  said,  sculp- 
tured the  very  beautiful  portal  of  the  Palazzo  Vismara  now  at 
the  Brera ;  and  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  who  painted  the  fresco  of 
our  Lord's  Supper  in  the  convent  of  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie, 
and  modelled  the  equestrian  statue  of  Francesco  Sforza. 

A  bas-relief,  by  an  unknown  sculptor,  of  the  Adoration  of  the 
Magi  in  the  Sala  Capitolare  dei  Padri  at  the  Certosa,  in  which 
Filippo-Maria  and   his  father  Gian   Galeazzo   are   introduced 


Fran^aise).  Rogier  Van  der  Weyden  visited  Urbino,  and  Antonello  da 
Messina  brought  back  Flemish  methods  and  traditions  from  Bruges  to 
Italy. 

*  To  distinguish  him  from  his  father  Bramantino  I'antico.  Vasan 
says  that  Bi'amantino  was  the  first  introducer  of  good  drawing  into  Milan 
(see  xi.  268),  and  Sig.  Calvi  si:)eaks  of  Bramante  I'antico,  whom  he  also 
calls  Bramante  da  Milano  and  Bramantino,  as  the  artist  who  introduced 
Renaissance  architecture,  then  called  Bramantesque,  into  Lombardy,  and 
who  made  the  book  of  drawings  which  Vasari  saw  in  the  hands  of 
Valerio  Vicentino;  but  we  are  more  inclined  to  adopt  the  statement 
made  by  the  annotators  of  Vasari  (vide  Comvientm'io  alia  Vita  di  Garo- 
falo,  xi.  277-83)  that  these  drawings  were  by  Agostino  di  Bramante,  son 
of  Bramantino  I'antico,  himself  the  master  of  Bramante  d'  Urbicu  iUo 
architect  of  St.  Peter's. 

t  Trattato  della  Pittura^  lib.  vi,  oh.  Ivi. 


The  Maiitegazza.  183 

among  the  spectators,  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the 
transition  period  between  the  old  and  the  new  schools,  since 
with  the  rounder  forms  of  the  first  it  has  the  profuse  gilding  of 
the  last.  It  has  been  suggested  that  it  is  an  early  work  by  the 
brothers  Mantegazza,  not  only  from  certain  characteristics  of 
style  but  also  because  the  sculptors  mentioned  in  the  records 
of  the  Certosa  before  their  time,  were  mere  carvers  of  capitals, 
cornices,  &c.,  called  "  piccatores  lapidum  vi varum,"  such  as 
Giovanni  da  Garbagnate,  Lodovico  da  Regio,  Giovanni  da  Como, 
and  Fusina  da  Campioue.* 

Cristoforo  and  Antonio  Mantegazza,  who  were  educated  as 
goldsmiths  in  the  workshop  of  their  father  Antonio  at  Milan, 
are  first  heard  of  at  the  Certosa  in  1473,  but  they  must  have 
been  attached  to  the  Fabbrica  some  time  before  this,  since  the 
Prior  then  owed  them  800  lire  for  marble  work  previously  com- 
pleted. Their  reputation  was  evidently  considerable,  as  they 
were  soon  after  commissioned  to  model  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Francesco  Sforza,  but  we  may  surmise  that  they  hardly  felt 
themselves  equal  to  a  task  afterwards  entrusted  to  Lionardo 
da  Vinci,  as  they  abandoned  it  after  calculating  the  amount  of 
bronze  which  would  be  required  to  cast  it.f 

They  were  then  appointed  head  sculptors  at  the  Certosa,  and 
entrusted  with  divers  commissions,  with  the  proviso  that  the 
price  for  each  completed  work  should  be  fixed  by  appraisers.  The 
first  submitted  (October  12,  1478)  were  the  marble  "  sacrarii "  ."j: 
adorned  with  bas-reliefs,  delicately  sculptured  ornament  and 
pilasters,  in  the  chapels  near  the  entrance  to  the  right  and 
left.  Among  the  more  important  works  subsequently  entrusted 
to  them  were  the  "  dossale  "  or  altar-piece  in  the  Sala  Capi- 
tolare  dei  Fratelli,  representing  the  Virgin  with  the   dead  body 

*  The  portrait  of  Filippo-Marla  was  probably  introduced  either  because 
lie  was  the  donor  of  the  relief,  or  in  sign  of  gratitude  for  the  money  he 
had  given  towards  building  the  great  cloister  of  the  Certosa.  The 
arabesques,  leaves,  busts  and  little  figures  in  relief  about  the  cornice, 
base  and  pilasters  which  enframe  the  bas-relief  are  evidently  by  the 
brothers  Mantegazza,  whose  hand  is  especially  recognizable  in  the  very 
pleasing  groups  of  angels. 

t  6,000  lbs.  of  bronze.  Lionardo  calculated  that  100,000  lbs.  would  be 
required  for  his  equestrian  group. 

X  "  Sacrario,"  a  receptacle  for  utensils  used  by  the  priest  during  the 
celebration  of  mass 


184     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadpture. 


of  our  Lord,  surrounded  by  the  Marys  and  the  disciples ;  a 
bas-relief  of  the  same  subject  now  at  South  Kensington  ;  some 
praying  angels  upon  the  side  posts  of  a  door  in  the  great 
cloister ;  and  a  Pieta  over  a  door  leading  out  of  its  right  tran- 
sept. The  gestures  and  facial  expression  of  the  figures  in  these 
marbles  are  extremely  exaggerated,  their  cartaceous  draperies 
cling  to  the  limbs  in  square  patches  sharply  outlined,  and 
their  proportions  are  abnormal,  and  yet,  like  the  pictures 
of  Hugo  van  der  Goes  and  Rogier  van  der  Weyden  which 
they  recall,  they  move  ua  through  their  eai-nestness  and 
intensity  of  feeling  to  accept  and  even  admire  what  would 
otherwise  be  painfal  and  repulsive. 

Cristoforo  Mantegazza,  who  died 
in  1482,  about  a  j'ear  after  Guini- 
forte  Solari  had  commenced  the 
facade  of  the  Certosa,  can  have 
had  no  hand  in  the  sculptures 
about  it,  but  his  brother  Antonio, 
who  was  attached  to  the  "  Fab- 
brica"  until  1491  and  from  time 
to  time  received  payment  for  work 
done,  undoubtedly  had.  He  died  at 
Milan,  October  7th,  1495,  much 
lamented  by  the  duke,  who  on 
the  recommendation  of  Beatrice 
Visconti  gave  permanent  employ- 
ment at  the  Certosa  to  his  son 
Antonio.  Other  sculptors  worked 
there  simultaneously  with  the 
brothers  Mantegazza,  and  among 
them  an  artist  far  greater  than 
they,  the  celebrated  Giovanni 
Antonio  Omodeo,  or  Amadeo,""''  who  was  born  nearPavia  in  1447 
on  a  farm  belonging  to  his  father  Aloisius.f     Some  one  of  the 

*  Iq  a  letter  written  by  the  Cancelliere  Bartolomeo  Calco,  and  in 
various  old  papers,  he  is  called  degli  Amadei;  his  name  probably  came 
from  the  town  of  ]\Iadeo  or  Malleo,  as  it  is  often  written  de'  Madeo  or 
a  Madeo  (Bossi,  M8.  Bib.  Mchl  at  Milan,  carteUo  ix.). 

f  Omodeo  is  sometimes  called  a  citizen  of  Pavia  and  sometimes  of 
Milan.  In  a  document  dated  October  10,  14.95,  he  is  called  citizen  of 
Pavia,  resident  at  Milan  ;  and  in  another,  dated  January  29,  1499,  he  is 


/-  siMcm.  sa 


Omodeo.  185 

artists  employed  at  the  Certosa  probably  taught  him  how  to 
use  the  chisel,  but  we  clo  not  know  under  whose  influence 
or  at  what  period  he  formed  the  habit  of  cutting  deeply  into 
marble,  arranging  draperies  in  cartaceous  folds,  and  treating 
surfaces  flatly  even  when  he  sculptured  figures  in  high  relief.* 
Excepting  in  these  technical  points,  he  dilfered  from  his  asso- 
ciates completely,  and  so  far  surpassed  them  that  he  may  be 
ranked  with  the  great  Tuscan  artists  of  his  time,  which  can  be 
said  of  no  other  North-Italian  sculptor.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  worked  at  the  Certosa  with  his  brother  Protasius,  and 
in  the  following  year  received  a  considerable  sum  of  money  and 
two  bushels  of  wheat  in  payment  for  sculptures  whose  subjects 
are  not  specified,  though  we  have  no  doubt  that  they  were  the 
bas-relief  in  the  lunette,  and  the  fruits,  leaves,  and  delicate 
little  figures  of  angels  upon  the  pilasters  of  the  doorway  lead- 
ing from  the  small  cloister  into  the  church.  These  we 
should  hardly  believe  to  be  from  Omodeo's  hand  Avere  they  not 
signed,  but  it  is  unmistakeable  in  the  bas-reliefs  upon  the 
tomb  of  the  Beato  Lanfranco  in  the  church  dedicated  to  that 
Saint  near  Pavia,  which  were  executed  about  1469.  Raised 
upon  six  slender  columns,  the  sarcophagus  serves  as  base  to  a 
little  temple  whose  sides  are  covered  with  reliefs  relating  to  the 
history  of  our  Lord,  while  those  upon  the  sarcophagus  set  forth 
various  events  in  the  life  of  the  Saint  (b.  1015),  who  beginning 
as  a  dialectician,  jurisconsult,  and  monk,  became  the  confiden- 
tial adviser  of  William  the  Conqueror,  and  eventually  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  (1071-10S7).t 

After  completing  his  work  at  Pavia,  Omodeo  went  to  Bergamo 
to  sculpture  the  tomb  of  Medea,  daughter  of  the  famous  cou- 

called  citizen  of  both  places,  which  does  not  necessarily  indicate  that  he 
was  born  in  either  (Calvi,  L'^jg  of  Omodeo,  pt.  ii.  p.  143). 

*  Among  the  artists  who  j^receded  Omodeo  at  the  Certosa  were  the 
Fratelli  Zaratteri  and  Pietro  da  Ripa  in  1453,  Vinccnzo  Foppa  in  1465, 
and  Gughelmo  da  Como  in  1452,  Angelino  da  Lecco  who  sculptured  a 
Nativity,  Antonio  da  Lecco  and  Giovanni  da  Cairate  in  14G4,  Eaimondo 
da  Cremona  who  made  terra-cotta  figures  for  the  cloister,  Giovanni 
Solari  1464,  and  his  son  Guiniforte,who  remained  there  up  to  his  death  in 
1481. 

t  See  Life  of  S.  Lanfranco  by  Milano  Crispino,  cited  by  Cantu,  St. 
decjll  Italiani,  vol.  ii.  ch.  xc.  pp.  461-2,  and  Histoire  do  la  Conqucte  dea 
Normandes,  par  Augustin  Thierry,  second  ed.  vol.  p.  253-4. 


1 86     IIisto7Hcal  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpture, 

dottiore  Bartolomeo  Coleoui,  for  a  cliapel  which  he  had  built 
and  endowed  at  Basella,  whence  it  was  removed  in  the 
last  century  to  Bergamo,  to  become  one  of  the  chief  orna- 
ments of  that  monument  of  Omodeo's  architectural  taste  and 
skill,  the  family  chapel  adjoining  the  Cathedral.  Draped  in 
the  folds  of  a  richly  embroidered  robe,  the  simply  disposed 
recumbent  effigy,  a  model  of  virginal  purity*  and  a  master- 
piece of  its  kind,  lies  upon  a  sarcophagus  adorned  with  an 
Ecce  Homo  and  two  mourning  angels  in  relief,  and  with  statu- 
ettes of  the  Madonna,  the  Magdalen,  and  St.  Catherine. 
Medea's  face  is  turned  upwards,  her  eyes  are  serenely  closed, 
and  her  arms  peacefully  folded  upon  her  bosom.  A  delicate 
string  of  jewels  encircles  her  head,  which  reposes  on  an  orna- 
mented pillow,  and  a  necklace  is  clasped  about  her  slender 
neck.  With  the  possible  exception  of  certain  monuments  by 
Desiderio  and  Rossellino  at  Florence,  no  tomb  in  Italy  equals 
this  in  design  and  treatment. 

AYhile  Omodeo  was  at  work  upon  it,  Coleoni  decided  to  build 
the  family  chapel  where  it  now  stands,  and  to  raise  a  splendid 
memorial  to  himself  within  it.  With  this  intent,  after  vainly 
requesting  the  authorities  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore  to  allow  him 
to  pull  down  one  of  its  sacristies,  he  took  advantage  of  his  almost 
royal  power  and  carried  out  his  project,  despite  the  judicial 
proceedings  instituted  against  him.  The  chapel,  designed  by 
Omodeo,  and  nearly  completed  before  the  death  of  its  founder, 
is  quadrangular  in  form  and  surmounted  by  an  octagonal  cupola. 
Its  extremely  ornate  facade  is  decorated  with  marble  colonettes, 
statuettes,  bas-reliefs,  busts,  medallions  and  arabesques,  and 
its  flat  spaces  are  covered  with  diamond-shaped  slabs  of  white, 
black,  and  red  marble.  The  rich  Renaissance  portal  is  flanked 
by  pilasters  covered  with  exquisite  arabesques,  and  surmounted 
by  a  rose  window  on  either  side  of  which  are  busts  of  Caesar 
and  Augustus,  in  roundels,  set  between  Corinthian  pilasters. 
A  row  of  open  arches  supported  upon  little  columns  decorate 
the  upper  part  of  the  facade,  and  the  double  pilasters  at  its 
angles  are  filled  in  with  circular  and  diamond-shaped  medal- 
lions, vases  of  flowers,  and  arabesques.  The  cornices,  pilasters 
and  architraves  of  the  side-windows  are  enriched  with  angels' 

*  "Un  chef-d'a5uvre  de  grace  et  de  purete  toute  virginale." — JS-io, 
Ha  VjLrt  chretienj  iii.  269, 


Ofuodeo.  187 

heads,  medallions  and  statuettes,  and  the  two  panels  of  the 
pedestals  of  the  truncated  columns  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  the  portal,  are  adorned  with  has- 
reliefs  of  children  grouped  together  with  great  freedom, 
executed  in  a  style  free  from  mannerism,  and  very  true  to 
nature.  In  one  of  these  compositions  a  little  fellow  is  playing 
upon  a  lute,  another  upon  a  pijie,  while  between  them  a  third 
holds  up  a  knight's  helmet,  whose  ample  plumes  form  the 
apex  of  the  group.  The  silent  music  of  these  marble  musi- 
cians harmonizes  well  with  the  fa9ade,  which  with  its  multiple 
colonettes  and  pilasters  resembles  a  gigantic  organ. 

Omodeo's  monument  to  its  founder  within  the  chapel  is 
crowned  by  a  gilded  equestrian  statue,  made  by  two  unknown 
German  sculptors  in  1509,*  which  stands  upon  a  sarcophagus 
decorated  with  statuettes  and  bas-reliefs  of  the  Annunciation, 
the  Nativity,  and  the  Adoration. f  Its  base,  which  is  of  the 
same  shape  and  like  it  supported  on  columns,  is  decorated  with 
statuettes  of  Hercules,  Mars,  and  three  seated  warriors,  |  and 
its  sides  are  profusely  ornamented  with  arabesques,  medal- 
lions, and  "putti,"  and  with  bas-reliefs  of  the  Flagellation, 
the  Crucifixion,  the  Deposition,  and  the  Entombment,  separated 
from  each  other  by  statuettes  of  the  Virtues.  The  bas-reliefs 
are  sculptured  with  astonishing  facility  and  skill  in  a  pictur- 
esque, energetic  and  expressive  style,  the  statuettes  are  original 
and  effective,  and  the  accessories  are  models  of  elegance,  but 
with  all  these  merits  of  detail,  the  structure  wants  unity  of 
effect,  as  it  is  divided  into  two  disconnected  and  superposed 
masses,  supported  upon  columns  apparently  too  slender  for  the 
weight  laid  upon  them.§ 

Omodeo  returned  to  Pavia  in  October,  1478,  and  submitted 

*  These  artists  are  called  Sisto  and  Leonardo  by  some  writers.  Calvi 
says  the  statue  was  made  by  an  unknown  sculptor  from  Nuremberg 
(op.  cit.  pt.  ii.  p.  149). 

t  These  statuettes  are  said  to  represent  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
Coleoni. 

X  Portraits  of  Coleoni's  sons-in-law,  Gasparo,  Gherardo,  and  Mar- 
tinei;  go. 

§  The  chapel  and  the  monuments  together  cost  more  than  50,000  gold 
ducats,  not  including  the  sum  left  by  Coleoni  in  his  will,  to  complete  them 
(Calvi,  op.  cit  pt.  ii.  p.  151).  See  also  Ricci,  ii.  645,  648  ;  Bottari,  Lett. 
Pitt,  cd-  Eom.  V.  277 ;  and  Marc  Ant.  Micarelli,  Agri  ef  Urhis  Bergomatis 
Descriptio,  1511. 


1 88     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  ScnlptiLve. 

to  the  approval  of  the  prior  and  head  architect  of  the  Cer- 
tosa  four  "  sacrarii,"  a  "  morena,"  or  parapet  for  a  well  in  the 
"Lavatoio  dei  Monaci,"  and  the  marbles  of  the  portal  leading 
from  the  left  transept  of  the  church  into  the  old  sacristy, 
which  consist  of  a  bas-relief  of  the  Resurrection  in  the  lunette, 
medallions  upon  the  architrave,  and  many  charming  groups 
of  singing  angels  upon  the  doorposts.  To  this  time  we  should 
also  assign  an  admirable  little  relief  of  the  Deposition  in  a 
medallion  upon  the  front  of  the  high  altar,  in  which  the  dead 
body  of  our  Lord  is  supported  by  the  Virgin,  St.  John,  and 
two  angels,  while  two  mourning  angels  float  in  the  air  above 
His  head.  The  central  group  is  in  parts  almost  in  the  round, 
and  thus  happily  contrasts  with  the  very  flat  relief  of  the 
remainder.  The  composition  is  excellent,  the  drapery  skilfully 
arranged,  the  figures  are  carefully  modelled,  and  the  heads  full 
of  expression. 

On  the  death  of  Guiniforte  Solari  (1481),  Omodeo  had  been 
temporarily  appointed  to  succeed  him  as  head  architect  of  the 
Certosa,  and  commissioned  to  make  a  fresh  design  for  the 
fa9ade  with  the  aid  of  Benedetto  Briosco,  Antonio  della  Porta, 
and  Stefano  da  Sesto,  but  it  was  not  until  1490,  when  he  was 
confirmed  in  his  office,  that  he  made  the  design  which  was 
accepted,  and  subsequently  carried  out  by  him  and  his  suc- 
cessors. He  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  working  at  Cremona 
upon  the  shrine  of  the  Egyptian  martyrs  Mario,  Marta, 
Audifaccio,  and  Abaccuco,who  suffered  death  at  Rome  (a.d.  271) 
under  the  Emperor  Claudius.  Of  this  work  nothing  remains 
but  the  sculptured  panels  set  into  the  Cathedral  pulpit,  as 
the  shrine  was  broken  up  when  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo, 
where   it  originally  stood,  was   pulled  down.*      These   reliefs 

*  Zaist,  Titt.  Sc.  ed  Arch.  Cremonesi,  i.  32,  describes  the  shrine  as  a 
sarcophagus  supported  upon  six  columns  and  adorned  with  bas-reliefs. 
Yasarii  xi.  261,  nota  2,  and  Cicognai'a,  iv.  388,  erroneously  ascribe  it  to 
Geremia  da  Cremona,  but  their  error  arose  from  their  having  mistaken 
the  date  contained  in  the  inscription  upon  the  sarcophagus  in  the  crypt 
which  reads  properly,  "  A.  Amadeo  F.H.O.  1482  die  vi.  Octobris,"  and 
not  1432  (Morelli,  p.  159,  nota  64,  notes  to  1'  Anonimo,  p.  36).  Vasari 
mentions  Geremia  da  Cremona,  at  xi.  261,  as  author  of  a  great  work  in 
marble  at  San  Lorenzo,  and  at  iii.  241,  speaks  of  him  (as  does  Filarete  in 
his  MS.  treatise  oa  architecture)  as  an  excellent  bronze-caster.  Zaist 
(i.  31)  says  that  he  knows  of  no  other  work  by  him  than  this  shrine. 
Cicognara  says  he  long  lived  in  Venice  and  executed  many  works  theie. 


077iodeo.  189 

represent  the  Emperor  giving  orders  to  his  satellites,  and  the 
death  of  the  martyrs  by  divers  kinds  of  torture.  ■  Their  sharp- 
edged  and  flat-surfaced  limbs,  and  the  cartaceous  draperies  of 
the  numberless  little  groups  of  figures,  form  a  series  of  delicate 
lines,  which  cross  and  recross  each  other  like  the  meshes  of  a 
spider's  web.  The  bas-reliefs  upon  the  sides  of  the  sarcophagus 
in  the  cr3'pt  of  this  Cathedral,  which  contains  the  bodies  of 
SS.  Pietro  and  Marcellino,  the  patrons  of  Cremona,  are  so 
much  in  Omodeo's  style  that  we  were  led  to  attribute  them 
to  him  in  a  former  work,*  but  this  was  an  error,  as  the  archives 
of  the  Cathedral  prove  that  they  were  sculptured  by  Benedetto 
BrioscOjf  who,  on  the  6th  of  May,  150S,  agreed  as  per  entry 
to  m&ke  the  said  reliefs  and  ornaments  "  of  the  same  excel- 
lence as  those  upcn  the  facade  of  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  for  the 
price  of  600  ducats." |  Giovanni  Battista  Malojo  of  Cremona, 
whose  name  is  inscribed  upon  the  tomb,  was  an  architect  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  who  when  employed  (1609)  to  remove  the 
monument  from  the  upper  church,  was  obliged  to  cut  it  down 
in  order  to  place  it  under  the  low  roof  of  the  crypt.  Of  eight 
bas-reliefs  there  are  now  but  five,  treated  like  the  panels  of 
the  pulpits  described  above,  but  in  an  even  more  pictorial 
style.  In  one,  as  in  the  baptistry-reliefs  of  Ghiberti,  a  triple 
action  is  carried  on ;  a  saint  expels  a  demon  from  the  body 
of  a  woman,  looks  through  the  base  of  a  grated  window,  and 
is  put  to  death.  In  another,  several  martyrs  are  led  away 
to  prison  under  the  eyes  of  the  Emperor  and  of  a  crowd  of 
eager  spectators  who  fill  the  window  of  a  j^alace  overlooking  a 
garden  ;  and  in  another  they  are  put  to  death,  and  their  souls 
are  borne  to  heaven  by  angels,  who  rise  with  them  above  the 
trees  in  the  background. 

'\^'e  have  no  knowledge  of  the  time  when  Omodeo  made  the 
Borromei   monuments,  formerly  in  the   church   of   S.  Pietro 

*  See  Italian  Sculptors,  p.  132. 

f  Benedetto  Briosco  was  employed  upon  the  portal  of  the  Certosa  in 
1501.  Ill  the  Creraonese  archives  he  is  mentioned  as  "filius  quondam 
domini  Medigoli  Natitntor  in  civitatc  Mediolani."  His  name  is  inscribed 
upon  the  pedestal  of  the  statue  of  the  Madonna  upon  the  monument  to 
Gian  Galeazzo  A^'isconti  in  the  Certosn,  executed  between  11.90-1562,  by 
Gio.  Crostoforo  Romano  and  other  sculptors, 

X  For  this  extract  we  are  indebted  to  M.  Courrajod,  Curator  of  the 
Renaissance  Museum  at  the  Louvre. 


190     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

in  Gessate  at  Milan,  and  now  in  the  Borromeo  chapel  at 
Isola  Bella  in  the  Lago  Maggiore,  but  we  may  conjecture  that 
it  was  after  he  left  Cremona  to  return  to  the  Certosa.  One  of 
them,  the  tomb  of  an  unknown  member  of  the  family,  con- 
sists of  a  sarcophagus  decorated  with  military  bas-reliefs,  and 
crowned  by  a  little  temple,  under  which  the  Madonna  sits  with 
kneeling  suj)pliants.  The  other,  that  of  Giovanni  Borromeo, 
is  far  more  elaborate  and  effective.  The  sarcophagus,  whose 
sides  are  filled  with  eight  bas-reliefs  from  the  early  life  of  our 
Lord,  is  supported  upon  pilasters  masked  by  six  statues  of 
armed  shield-bearers  standing  on  pedestals  adorned  with 
amorini  and  female  figures  in  relief,  and  the  sepulchral  effigy 
lies  below  a  small  temple  with  statuettes  at  its  coi'ners,  from 
each  of  which  hang  curtains  supported  by  little  genii.  Recum- 
bent figures  fill  the  spandrils  of  the  arches  thrown  over  the 
inter-columnar  spaces,  and  a  highly  ornate  frieze  is  carved 
round  the  monument  directly  under  the  sarcophagus. 

About  1490,  after  an  absence  of  eight  or  nine  years,  Omodeo 
returned  to  his  post  at  the  Certosa,  and  after  constructing  a 
clay  model*  of  the  facade,  built  it  without  interruption  up  to 
the  first  corridor. f  Its  great  round  arched  portal,  designed 
and  erected  by  Benedetto  Briosco,j  rests  upon  four  columns 
with  rich  Corinthian  capitals,  and  is  flanked  by  eight  pilasters 
covered  with  bas-reliefs,  the  larger  of  which,  relating  to  the 
history  of  the  building,  appear  to  be  by  Agostino  Busti,§  while 
the  smaller  are  by  Omodeo,  and  in  his  best  manner.  The  sub- 
basement  is  covered  with  a  series  of  medallions  containing  heads 
of  the  Roman  emperors,  **putti,"  coats  of  arms,  &c.,  &c. ;  and 
the  basement  with  bas-reliefs  of  very  unequal  merit,  represent- 
ing Adam  and  Eve,  the  Annunciation,  the  Nativity,  the  resur- 
rection of  Lazarus,  the  mocking  of  Christ   by  the  Jews,  the 

*  For  this  model  he  was  paid  200  lire  imperiali  (Calvi,  op.ci7.pt.ii.p.l63). 

f  The  Mantegazza,  Omodeo,  Benedetto  Briosco,  Ettore  d'  Alha, 
Antonio  da  Locati,  Battista  and  Stefano  da  Sesto,  Francesco  ]Jiondello, 
Giacomo  Nava,  Marco  d'  Agrate,  Angelo  Marino  Siciliano,  Agostino 
Busti,  Battista  Gattoni,  Antonio  Tamagnini,  Gio.  Giac.  della  Porta, 
Giov.  Or.  Romano,  and  Cristoforo  Solari  detto  il  Gobbo,  all  worked  on 
the  facade. 

X  Briosco  was  to  receive  8,000  lire  iraperiali= 160,000  francs,  for  thia 
door. 

§  Bee  p.  346. 


Omodeo.  i  g  i 

Crucifixion,  and  the  Eesurrectiou.  Many  of  these  marbles 
have  been  too  much  mutilated  to  allow  of  identification,  but 
in  some  of  those  which  are  tolerably  well  preserved  we  recog- 
nize the  hand  of  Omodeo,  or  that  of  an  artist  trained  in  his 
school.  The  admirable  bas-reliefs  of  kneeling  bishops  with 
attendant  monks  and  flying  angels,  which  decorate  the  slabs  of 
marble  placed  vertically  against  the  walls  directly  next  the 
portal,  and  the  beautiful  square-headed  windows  on  either  side 
of  it,  which  are  divided  by  slender  columns  in  the  form  of 
candelabra  and  surrounded  by  broad  bands  of  marble  covered 
with  elaborate  ornament,  seem  to  be  by  the  master  himself. 

Omodeo  was  joint  architect  of  the  Certosa  and  of  the  Cathe- 
drals of  Pavia  and  Milan,  until  he  undertook  to  crown  the 
latter  with  a  cupola,  when  he  resigned  his  other  offices  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  Milan,  where,  assisted  by  his  colleague 
Dolcebuono,  he  commenced  his  work  in  1497  according  to  the 
accepted  model,  and  carried  it  up  to  the  octagon.  As  its 
solidity  was  then  questioned  by  Cristoforo  Solari  and  Andrea 
Fusina,  the  directors  stopped  the  works  (1503).  This  and 
other  annoyances  and  delays  which  followed,  find  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  Brunclleschi's  cupola  at  Florence,  and  that  of 
Michelangelo's  monument  to  Pope  Julius  at  Piorne,  and  as 
the  history  of  the  latter  has  been  entitled  "  La  Tragedia  del 
Sepolcro,"  so  may  that  of  Omodeo  be  called  "La  Tragedia  della 
Cupola."*  The  overthrow  of  Ludovico  ilMoro  (1499) had  deprived 
him  of  an  efficient  protector,  and  the  death  of  Dolcebuono  not 
only  left  him  without  a  friend  and  aid,  but  gave  the  directors  an 
opportunity  of  annoying  him,  by  naming  Andrea  Fusina  as  his 
new  associate,  after  he  had  generously  refused  to  exercise  his 
right  to  select  a  more  congenial  companion.  He  was  then 
summoned  before  the  council  to  defend  his  work,  and  thougb 
he  appears  to  have  answered  all  their  objections  triumphantly, 
he  was  not  allowed  to  pursue  it,  on  account  of  the  violent 
opposition  manifested  by  many  of  the  artists  connected  with 
the  "  Fabbrica."f     Bernardino  Zenale,  the  painter,  who  had 

*  It  is  not  known  who  made  the  medallion  portrait  of  Omodeo,  which 
is  set  into  the  wall  of  a  spiral  staircase  leading  to  the  roof  of  the  Cathe- 
dral through  a  Gothic  turret  which  he  built. 

t  This  unkind  treatment  of  a  tried  and  faithful  servant  was  the  more 
inexcusable  as  the  Fabbrica  had  several  j'cars  before  accepted  his  gift 


192     Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

begun  the  study  of  architecture  very  late  in  life,  was  then 
chosen  to  prepare  a  new  model,  and  this  act  of  hostility  was 
followed  (1519)  by  the  appointment  of  Omodeo's  chief  enemy, 
Cristoforo  Solari,  to  the  post  of  architect.  All  these  vexations 
weighed  heavily  upon  the  old  artist,  who  died  about  1520, 
*'  ex  decrepitate,"  says  the  record,  worn  out  not  less  by  adverse 
fortune  than  by  a  life  of  unremitting  labour.  First  among 
North-Italian  sculptors  in  technic,  in  facility,  and  refinement, 
he  would  know  no  rival  even  among  his  Tuscan  contemporaries, 
were  his  style  free  from  mannerism,  and  his  standard  of  beauty 
more  elevated. 

"VVe  know  little  more  than  the  names  of  many  of  the 
sculptors  who  clustered  like  bees  about  the  Cathedral  at  Milan 
during  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  made  it  the 
storehouse  of  their  handiwork.*  All  found  solid  advantages  in 
their  connection  with  the  "  Fabbrica."  Before  being  admitted 
to  full  privileges,  the  young  worked  for  a  time  without  remu- 
neration, in  order  to  learn  their  art,f  while  the  old  and  infirm 

of  a  farm  at  Giovenzano,  and  a  yearly  sum  of  200  lire  destined  to 
furnish  dowries  for  the  daughters  of  its  sculptors.  Struck  to  the  heart 
by  this  and  many  other  signs  of  hostility,  Omodeo  made  a  second  will,  by 
which  he  devised  the  remainder  of  his  property  to  his  relative  Giovanni- 
Maria  Amadeo,  counsellor  of  the  Fabbrica. 

*  Such  are  Matteo  Castaldi,  styled  in  the  records  of  the  Fabbrica, 
"  Magister  expertus  in  signis  et  foliaminibus,"  who  in  1465  received  ten 
gold  florins  for  a  roundel  to  be  set  in  the  first  story  of  the  campanile  at 
Ferrara  (Cittadella,  02).  cit.  p.  100);  Matteo  de'  Eevetti  or  Eevertis,  who 
made  the  now  destroyed  monument  to  the  Count  of  Yaltero  and  Arquato 
(a.d.  1422)  in  the  church  of  St.  Elena  at  Venice,  which  is  described  by 
Sansavino  (lib.  v.  p.  210)  as  adorned  with  many  admirable  little  figuies, 
rich  leaf- work  and  varied  ornament ;  Maffeo  da  Milano,  stone-cutter,  who 
after  several  years'  absence  from  the  duomo  at  Llilan  on  account  of  illness 
was  readmitted  with  full  pay  a.d.  1491;  and  Pantaleone  de'  Marchi 
(1492),  who  made  twelve  wooden  statues  for  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  and 
the  choir  stalls  which  were  sold  at  Milan  after  the  suppression  of  the 
convent  by  the  French.  Ambrogio  di  Porris  (1497),  Bartolomeo  di  Ber- 
nardino de'  Nova,  Girolamo  de'  Nova  (1495),  and  Giuliano  de'  Parisiis  or 
Parisio,  an  assistant  of  Cristoforo  Solari,  were  all  enrolled  among  the 
cathedral  sculptors;  as  was  Galeazzo  Pellegrini,  who  also  woi-kcd  at  the 
Certosa,  where  he  was  commissioned  to  design  the  monument  of  Gian 
Galeazzo,  which  was  sculptured  by  Gian  Cristoforo  Romano.  Pietro  di 
Martino  (ft.  1450)  is  mentioned  in  the  Neapolitan  chapter  of  this  volume 
as  the  designer  of  King  Alfonso's  triumphal  arch. 

t  Such  as  Eattista  da  Eipa  (1491)  who  afterwards  worked  under 
Omodeo,  1496. 


Amhrogino  da  Milano,  Y93 

retired  on  pensions.*  Expulsion  was  the  penalty  incurred  by 
those  Avho  went  to  work  elsewhere  without  special  permission, 
but  in  certain  cases,  where  adequate  excuses  could  be  oflered, 
the  offenders  Avere  readmitted.!  Finding  ample  and  remu- 
nerative employment  at  home  but  few  Milanese  sculptors  went 
abroad,  I  and  among  those  who  did  so  we  find  the  name  of 
but  one  remarkable  artist,  Ambrogio  Barocci,  called  Ambrof^ino 
da  Milano,§  whose  sculptures  are  not  to  be  found  at  Milan,  but 
about  the  doors, windows,  and  chimney-pieces  of  the  Ducal  Palace 
at  Urbino,  where  his  skilful  hand  was  employed  in  carving  tro- 
phies, military  emblems,  flowers,  birds,  and  children,  which  show 
the  utmost  elegance  and  purity  of  taste.  The  architrave  of 
one  of  the  chimney-pieces  is  adorned  with  a  row  of  dancing 
Cupids,  and  its  jambs  with  reliefs  of  winged  boys  holding  vases 
fJled  with  growing  roses  and  carnations,  whose  structure  and 
wayward  growth  show  the  closest  and  most  loving  study  of 
nature.     {Sec  woodcut.)      The  leaves,  flowers,  and  birds,  where 

*  Like  Antonio  de'  Eesgiovis  who  was  attached  to  the  duomo  from 
1415  to  14G5. 

t  This  was  the  case  with  Aloisio  Lomazzo,  Ambrogio  di  Arluno  (1500), 
and  Ambrogio  Ghisolfi.  His  brother  Giovanni  Pietro  sculptured  thp 
ftrms  of  Lodovico  Sforza  over  the  portal  of  tbe  castle  of  Milan  which 
were  thrown  down  by  the  soldiers  of  Louis  XII. 

X  Maestro  Pietro  Briosco  was  commissioned  in  1442  to  terminate  the 
work  about  the  doors  of  St.  Petronius  at  Bologna.  A  Maestro  Scilla 
worked  at  Naples  under  Andrea  Ciccione  upon  the  tombs  of  King 
Ladislaus  and  Ser  Gian  Caracciolo.  (/See  Neapolitan  chapter.)  Other 
sculjitors  of  ornament  (lapicide)  attached  to  the  duomo  in  1490-1496  are 
Gio.  Ambrogio  de'  Locate  or  de'  Donati,  Gio.  Ant.  de'  Besozzo,  Gio.  Ant. 
Taverna,  Gio.  Ant.  de'  Mapolinis,  Girolamo  da  Novara,  Luigi  da  Sesto, 
elected  jjrior  of  the  Sculptors'  Guild  in  1494,  Cristoforo  de'  Stucchis  and 
Gio.  Fregella  1491-1494-1497 ;  Stefano  Battista  and  Paolo  da  Sesto,  dis- 
missed for  some  unknown  reason  in  1496.  The  latter  artist  worked  at 
the  Certosa  in  1513. 

§  "Magi.ster  Ambracius,  lapicida  et  sculi:)tor  egregius,"  was  one  of  the 
witnesses  to  Giovanni  Santi's  will ;  (Pungileoni,  Elogio  Storico  di  0. 
Santl,  p.  136;  Passavant,  Fr.  tr.  i.  42.)  From  him  descended  the  Barocci 
d'  Urbino,  a  family  which  gave  both  painters  and  mathematicians  to  Italy. 
Federigo  Baroccio  the  famous  painter  was  the  grandson  of  Ambrogio  da 
Milano,  and  son  of  Ambrogio  the  jurisconsult  {vide  Bossi  and  Cattaneo, 
MS.I>(6.  Melzi,  vol.  ii.).  Passavant,  Fr.  tr.  p.  380,  says  there  were  several 
families  of  this  name  at  Urbino, 

O 


194     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 


colour   alone   seems  wanting  to  give  life,  are  well  eulogized 
by  Giovanni  Santi  as — 

"  Mostrando  quanto  che  natura 
Possa  in  tal  arte." 

Such  ornamental   sculpture  is  (like  all  the  best  Eenaissanco 

work  of  its  kind)  no  arid  imita' 
tion  of  the  antique,  but  a  new 
growth  from  that  parent  stem, 
nor  do  we  know  any  other  work 
of  the  sort  comparable  to  Ambro- 
gio's,  save  perhaps  that  at  Venice 
by  his  contemporary  Pietro  Lom- 
bardo.*  Ambrogio  showed  him- 
self equally  excellent  as  a  monu- 
mental sculptor  in  the  tomb 
of  Lorenzo  Pioverella,  physician 
to  Pope  Julius  II.  and  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Ferrara,  in  the 
church  of  San  Giorgio,  outside 
the  walls  of  Ferrara. f  Its  style 
is  pure  Quattro-cento,  and  its 
general  arrangement  that  adopt 
ed  by  the  Tuscan  masters.  The 
recumbent  effigy  lies  upon  a 
sarcophagus  within  an  arched  re- 
cess adorned  with  cherub  heads, 
having  two  "putti  "  outside  the 
arch,  upon  the  top  a  group  of 

*  Passavant,  cf.  cit.  p.  378,  attributes  the  chimney-pieces  to  Fc*.  di 
Giorgio  from  Siena.  Baldinnucci  says  he  designed  them  and  Amhrogio 
sculptured  them.  A  glance  however  at  the  military  bas-reliefs  by  the 
Sienese  artist  in  the  palace  at  Urbino  is  sufficient  to  convince  one,  that 
he  cannot  be  the  sculptor  of  the  ornamental  Avork  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking.  The  most  important  work  upon  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Urbino  is 
that  by  Fr.  Arnold  entitled  Der  herzogliche  Palast  von  Urbino,  Leipzig, 
1857.  The  first  architect  of  the  palace  vv'as  Mo.  Luciano  da  Lausana  in 
Dalmatia,  who  received  his  aiDpointment  through  a  letter  written  by  the 
Duke  Federigo  from  Castel  Papia,  June  10,  1468.  It  was  finished  by 
Baccio  Pintelli.  Ambrogio  da  Milano  and  Gondolo  Tedesco  are  spoken 
of  as  employed  to  ornament  it.  The  beautiful  stone  ornaments  are 
attributed  to  the  first,  and  the  intarsia  work  to  the  second. 

t  Bossi,   MS.    cit.,    quotes   Zani   in   favour  of   the   identity  of    the 


Venice.  195 

St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  within  the  hmette  a  roundel  con- 
taining a  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  with  adoring  angels, 
and  on  either  side  of  the  recess  five  excellent  statuettes  of 
saints.  As  the  technical  handling  is  admirahle  throughout,  wo 
do  not  know  of  any  monument  so  beautiful  in  design  or  so 
free  from  mannerism  as  this,  with  the  exception  of  the  master- 
pieces of  the  Florentine  sculptors  at  Florence  and  Lucca.  We 
have  no  knowledge  of  where  Ambrogio  studied,  or  how  long  he 
lived,  and  any  conjecture  as  to  the  length  of  his  career  would 
be  hazardous,  as  his  works  at  Urbino  and  Ferrara  were  very 
nearly  contemporaneous.  He  married  a  lady  of  good  position 
at  Urbino,  and  from  their  union  sprang  the  Barocci  d' Urbino, 
a  family  fich  in  mathematicians  and  painters. 

Venice. 
With  the  introduction  of  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture  at 
Venice  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  we 
should  naturally  look  for  a  great  improvement  in  decorative 
sculpture  which  is  an  essential  part  of  it.  And  yet,  unless 
we  accept  the  capitals  of  the  columns  and  the  groups  at  the 
angles  of  the  facades  of  the  Ducal  Palace  as  works  of  this 
century,  we  shall  find  it  difficult  to  show  that  any  such  im- 
provement took  place.  Bertuccius  (1300),  who  cast  the 
external  bronze  gates  of  St.  Mark's  ;*  Marcus  Venetus  (1310), 

Ambrogio  at  Urbino  and  him  at  Ferrara.  The  tomb  is  signed  and  dated 
Ambrosii  Mecliolanensis,  op.  1475.  Cittadella,  in  his  Kotizie  di  Ferrara, 
p.  47,  under  the  date  1500,  quotes  a  document  of  payments  made  to 
M°  Pietro  Martino  and  Barto.  di  Cavalli  da  Verona  for  work  done  in  the 
duomo  at  Ferrara;  adding  that  for  the  latter  artist  some  chronicles  sub- 
stitute M°  Ambrogio  da  Milano,  who  in  1475  worked  at  the  "  Officio  delle 
Biade"  with  the  Mantuan  sculptors  Albertino  and  Luigi  Eusconi.  Tho 
same  writer  at  p.  95  cites  a  document  dated  March  20,  1473,  in  which 
M°  Ambrogio  da  Milano  is  said  to  have  been  paid  seventy  ducats  of 
Venetian  gold,  probably  for  the  construction  of  the  loggia  "  degli  Straz- 
zaroli "  (cloth  and  silk  merchants)  with  the  help  of  the  Rusconi.  Ambrogio 
had  a  son  named  Cristoforo  who  is  recorded  as  a  sculptor  in  1511.  This 
artist  is  probably  identical  with  that  Cristoforo  da  Milano  who  with  other 
sculptors  was  employed  in  1540  to  adorn  the  Palazzo  della  Kagione  at 
Ferrara  (Ricci,  St.  delV  ArcMtettura,  iii.  174). 

*  Selvatico,  op.  cit.  ix  85,  states  his  opinion  that  Bertuccius  sculptured 
a  bas-relief  of  San  Leonardo,  which  exists  upon  the  wall  of  St.  Mark's 
towards  the  Piazzetta  dei  Leoni, 

o  2 


196     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

wlio  carved  several  rude  figures  of  saints  upon  tlie  caj)ital  of  a 
column  Avliicli  supports  an  angle  of  the  cloisters  of  San  MaLteo 
at  Genoa ;  the  anonymous  sculptor  and  painter  whom  the 
Podesta  of  Murano,  Messcr  Donato  Memo,  employed  (1310)  to 
make  an  *'  ancona  "  of  wood  for  the  altar  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Murano,  as  a  votive  offering  at  the  shrine  of  his  patron  San 
Donato;*  and  the  anonymous  sculptor  who  carved  a  Madonna 
della  Misericordia  for  the  Ponte  del  Paradiso  at  Venice,  wero 
but  clumsy  workmen  of  the  mediaeval  stamp,  while  their  succes- 
sors in  the  second  half  of  the  century  were  hardly  superior.  It 
seems  impossible  that  the  Madonna  and  Child  near  the  entrance 
to  the  cloister  of  the  Carmine,  by  Arduinus  Tajapiera  (1340), f 
the  Madonna  and  Child  with  angels  and  suppliants,  |  and 
figures  in  relief  of  SS.  Leonard  and  Christopher  (1345)  §  near 
the  entrance  to  the  Academia,  and  the  Madonna  della  Miseri- 
cordia at  Sta.  Maria  dell'  Orto  (1344),  are  works  posterior  to 
those  of  Andrea  Pisauo,  and  contemporary  with  those  of 
Orgagna  in  Tuscany.  If  they  really  represent  Venetian 
sculpture  during  the  fourteenth  century  it  is  hardly  worth 
examination,  but  if,  as  we  believe,  the  Ducal  Palace   sculptures 

*  The  extreme  difference  in  size  between  the  saint  and  his  worshippers  in 
this  ancona,  seen  also  in  bas-reliefs  of  the  "  Madonna  della  Misericordia," 
is  met  with  in  Greek  votive  bas-reliefs,  between  gods  and  men.  Dr. 
Friederichs  {Bausteine  zur  Gescliichte  der  gr.  rom.  Plastik,  p.  213)  says, 
in  the  absence  of  an  inscription,  it  is  the  snrest  mark  of  a  votive  relief. 
Mo.  Donato,  Sc.  Veneziano.  "  Hoc  opus  fecit  Donatus  Magister  S. 
Marci  de  Venetiis  a.d.  1276."  "  Donatns  Magister  S.  Marci  de  Veneciri 
A.D.  MCCLXXVii.  Hoc.  opus  fac  "  or  fee.  Zani,  Enc.  Met.  vii.  401,  quotes 
these  i     criptions  without  mentioning  to  what  works  they  refer. 

•f  "  jicccxL.  mensis  Octubris  Arduin  Tajapiera  fecit."  It  seems  hardly 
probable  that  this  Arduinus  is  identical  with  the  architect  of  the  same 
name  who  built  the  basilica  of  San  Petronio  at  Bologna  a.I).  1390. 
Temanza,  op.  cit.  p.  363,  nota  A,  says  he  has  no  j  roofs  to  offer  of  the  fact. 
Cicognara,  i.  242  (ed.  in-folio),  says  that  Antonio  Vincenzi  or  di  Vincenzo 
(who  is  mentioned  by  Gualandi,  Guida  dl  Bologna,  p.  xi.  as  the  architect 
of  San  Petronio)  was  a  Bologuese  magistrate,  ambassador  to  Venice  in 
1396,  and  that  he  probably  sujoerintended  Arduinus  Venetus  in  his 
architectural  labours.  He  cites  a  notice  to  this  effect  found  in  the  papers 
of  Palladio  by  Algarotti. 

J  "  In  lo  tempo  di  M.  Marcho  Zulia  fu  fato  questo  lavorier." 

§  "  Fu  fato  questo  lavorier  al  onor  di  Dio  e  de  la  Yergine  Maria  e  de] 
glorioso  Chonfessor  M.  San  Leonardo  e  in  memoria  de  tutti  che  in  lo 
eanto  di  fo  chomensada  e  creada." — St.  Santa  Fraternitate  e  Schuola. 


Calcndario.  197 

were  uliolly  planned  and  partially  executed  by  Filippo 
Calendario,  the  most  eminent  architect  and  sculptor  of  his 
time,  and  not,  as  some  eminent  critics  have  laboured  to  prove, 
by  Bartolomeo  and  Giovanni  Bon  nearly  a  hundred  years  later, 
then  no  period  of  its  history  is  so  interesting,  for  these  marbles 
form  the  most  perfect  scheme  of  decoration  adapted  to  any 
modern  building.  But  who  was  Calendario  ?  The  answer  to 
this  question  contains  in  itself  proof  of  his  great  natural  abili- 
ties. He  was  a  sailor  or  shipbuilder  at  the  fortress  of  Murano, 
who  became  head-master  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  and  superinten- 
dent of  public  woi'ks,  and  who  was  consulted  by  the  senate  in 
all  matters  connected  with  the  restoration  and  decoration  of 
city  edifices.*  How  he  fitted  himself  to  fill  such  important 
posts  is  a  mystery,  but  certain  affinities  of  style  between  the 
compositions  sculptured  upon  the  capitals  of  the  Ducal  Palace 
and  those  which  fill  the  panels  of  the  gate  of  the  baptistry  at 
Florence,  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  was  brought  into  contact 
with  Andrea  Pisano  at  Venice  (1305),  and  received  lessons 
from  him  which  bore  fruit  in  works  far  superior  to  all  others 
of  the  pre-Renaissance  Venetian  school. f 

Every  child  knows  that  the  doge  Marino  Faliero,  being 
irritated  against  the  nobles  by  some  real  or  fancied  insult, 
organized  a  conspiracy  against  the  Republic  within  a  year  of 
bis  accession  to  the  ducal  throne  ;j  that  the  suspicions  of  the 
Council  of  Ten  were  roused  against  him  by  the  warning  given 
by  one  of  the  conspirators,  named  Beltrame,  to  the  patrician 
Nicolo  Lioni ;  that  the  plot  was  discovered  on  the  very  eve  of 
its  execution  (1355),  and  that  the  doge  was  degraded  and 
decapitated  on  the  steps  of  his  palace,  but  it  may  be  new  to 

*  Cadorin,  Pareri  di  XV  Archiietti,  at  p.  122  quotes  a  document  to 
prove  this  from  Egnazio,  Be  Excmp.  III.  Vir.  Venetce,  lib.  viii.  p.  275 ; 
Venezia,  1554 ;  Sabellico  says  "  che  era  scultore  ed  architotto  in  que* 
tempi  nobile,"  &c.  {vide  Ricci,  np.  dt.  ii.  333).  At  p.  161,  note  x.  Cadorin, 
mention  is  made  of  a  MS.  codicil  in  the  Mnseo  Correr  at  Venice  entitled 
Conrjiura  Falier,  inv.  175,  in  which  the  following  passage  occurs: — • 
"  Filippo  Scalandico  (vuol  dir  Calendario)  e  suo  fil,  si  dice  che  costoro 
erano  scultori  eccellenti.ssimi,  e  che  questi  ebbono  fatte  tutte  le  figure 
antiche  del  Palazzo  Ducale  che  sopra  delle  merli  si  vedono." 

f  See  chapter  iii.  p.  35. 

J  The  immediate  cause  of  the  doge's  action  is  given  in  the  apocryphal 
story  of  the  public  insult  offered  to  his  young  wife  Donna  Ludovica 
Gradenigo.     (Romanin,  Storia  Doc.  di  Venezia,  iii.  182.) 


198     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Rome  of  our  readers,  that  his  relative  and  friend  Filippo  Calen- 
dario  shared  his  fate.  Seized  in  his  house  at  San  Severo,  and 
brought  before  the  Council  with  his  son  Niccoletto,  his  father- 
in-law  Bertuccio  Israello,*  and  others,  he  was  sentenced  to 
death,  gagged,  and  then  hung  from  the  red  columns  of  the 
balcony  of  the  Ducal  Palace. f  We  do  not  know  Calendario's 
age  when  he  underwent  this  shameful  death,  but  we  may 
suppose  that  he  was  older  than  the  century,  if  it  be  true  that 
in  1327  he  had  already  attained  such  reputation  as  an  archi- 
tect, that  the  senate  considered  him  worthy  to  complete  the 
arsenal,  designed  by  Andrea  Pisauo  some  twenty  years  earlier. 
It  was  deemed  necessary  about  the  same  time  to  reconstruct 
the  old  palace  of  the  Doges,  and  designs  for  the  purpose  were 
furnished  by  Pietro  Basseggio  the  "  Protomastro,"  who  was 
the  friend  and  associate  of  Calendario,  his  predecessor  in  office, 
and  the  father  of  his  son  Nicolo's  wife.j  As  it  is  nowhere 
mentioned  that  Basseggio  was  anything  but  an  architect,  we 
may  fairly  suppose  that  he  left  the  planning  and  execution  of 
its  decorations  to  Calendario,  who  was  also  a  sculptor,  and  if 
the  date  in  Arabic  characters,  sculptured  upon  the  twentieth 
capital,  counting  from  the  corner  of  the  Palace  near  the  "  Ponte 
della  Paglia,"  be  correctly  read,  may  believe  that  the  series  of 
sup23orting  columns  was  thus  far  finished  eleven  years  before 
his  death.  ^  Sixty-seven  years  later  (1422)  the  doge  Tomaso 
Mocenigo  braved  the  penalty  of  a  thousand  ducats,  imposed 
upon  any  person  who  should  advise  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Palace,  and  induced  the  Siguory  to  order   that  this  should  be 

*  Calendario's  wife  was  Maria,  daughter  of  Bertuccio  Israello,  one  of 
the  chief  conspirators. 

t  The  "  Colonne  Kosse  delle  balconate  del  Palazzo "  from  which, 
according  to  Sanudo,  Calendario  and  his  accomplices  were  hung,  were 
probably  situated  in  the  ancient  wing  of  the  old  palace  facing  the 
piazzetta,  which  was  rebuilt  after  \V1\.  The  present  "red  columns" 
may  perhaps  be  the  same,  transported  from  their  original  site  and  made 
uniform  with  the  new  series  which  were  continued  along  the  same 
piazzetta  after  1424  (Storia  dei  Bogi  di  Venezia). 

X  Cadorin  says  that  Calendario  was  either  the  predecessor  or  associate 
of  Basseggio. 

§  Iconograplde  des  Chapiteaicx,  par  W.  Barges,  p.  20.  The  date,  says 
M.  Burges,  is  on  the  twentieth  column  counting  from  the  Eio  end  of  tho 
palace.  M.  Didron  in  his  note  to  this  passage  expresses  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  reading  of  the  date  is  correct. 


The  Ducal  Palace.  199 

3onc,  and  the  I'ac^ades  rebuilt  in  accordance  (says  the  edict) 
with  the  original  designs  of  Pietro  Basseggio.  The  unbelievers 
in  the  claims  of  Calendario  say  that  the  measure  was  carried 
out  by  Giovanni  and  Bartolomeo  Bon  under  successive  doges 
(1424—1461).  It  is  well  known  that  very  important  works 
were  undertaken  about  the  Palace  while  Bartolomeo  was  its 
head  architect,  but  the  complete  dissimilarity  of  style  between 
the  sculptures  of  the  Porta  della  Carta  and  those  about  the 
Ducal  Palace  leads  to  the  belief  that,  moved  by  a  creditable 
desire  not  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  the  building  by  the  intro- 
duction of  elements  in  a  different  style,  be  copied  the  old 
capitals  in  those  of  the  new  columns.  This  explains  why 
several  of  those  on  the  Piazzetta  are  repetitions  of  those  on 
the  liio,  for  one  can  hardly  accept  the  theory,  that  the  rich 
powers  of  invention  shown  in  the  latter  had  so  far  failed  the 
artist  in  the  midst  of  his  work,  that  he  was  obliged  to  repeat 
himself.  The  unity  of  idea  which  binds  these  sculptures 
together  as  relatively  important  parts  of  a  great  whole,  their 
completeness  as  a  series,  and  their  fitness  for  the  plase  which 
they  occupy,  all  convince  us  that  they  were  planned  by  one 
mind.^''  It  was  not  simply  with  the  intent  of  beautifying  the 
exterior  of  the  edifice  that  the  sculptor  carved  its  groups,  and 
capitals,  and  ornaments.     He  had  as  definite  a  purpose  as  the 

*  The  diversity  of  opinions  upon  the  date  of  these  sculptures  is  curious, 
Selvatico,  op.  cit.  p.  109,  concludes  that  the  two  facades  are  posterior  to 
1424'.  Cadorin  says  that  when  Calendario  died  is  not  known  (p.  124, 
o-p.  cit).  Surges  and  Ruskin  both  believe,  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
seven  copied  capitals,  all  belong  to  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. Didron  thinks  they  are  rather  of  the  thirteenth  than  of  the 
fifteenth.  Francesco  Zanotti  in  his  work  on  the  Ducal  Palace  (ch.  xii. 
note  18)  speaks  of  an  inscription  said  to  have  been  discovered  on  the 
capital  of  the  Column  of  Justice  to  this  effect: — "Duo  soti  (socii) 
Florentini  incisi."  Upon  this  inscription  he  founds  a  theory  that  these 
two  Florentine  associates  were  the  Pietro  di  Niccolo  da  Firenze  and 
Giovanni  Martino  da  Fiesole,  who  made  the  tomb  of  the  doge  Tomaso 
Mocenigo  (died  1423)  at  S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  during  whose  reign  this 
portion  of  the  palace  was  Cvimpleted.  But  as  no  one  else  mentions  this 
inscription,  and  as  the  noble  style  of  the  capital  is  very  different  from  the 
mediocre  character  of  the  woi'k  about  the  tomb,  we  are  not  inclined  to 
accept  Zanotti's  hypothesis,  especially  as  this  capital  is  the  finest  of  the 
whole  series.  Ricci,  Sloria  delV  Arcldlettura  in  Italia,  ii.  341,  exiiresscs 
as  his  opinion  that  the  designs  for  the  decoration  of  the  facades  of  ihe 
Ducal  Palace  were  given  by  Calendario. 


200     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

architect  when  he  divided  its  interior  into  spacious  halls  and 
chambers,  proper  for  the  reception  of  the  great  bodies  of  tho 
state  and  for  the  residence  of  its  chief  magistrate,  and  this 
purpose  was  to  make  it  an  image  of  the  political  state,  faith, 
and  occupations  of  the  Venetians,  and  thus  to  give  it  a  physi- 
ognomy so  national,  that  it  would  appear  to  have  been  born  of 
the  place.  The  task  was  difficult,  let  us  see  how  far  he  accom- 
plished it. 

At  each  corner  of  the  two  facades,  whose  junction  forms  the 
apex  of  a  triangle,  stands  the  statue  of  an  archangel,  to  show 
the  trust  of  the  Venetians  in  divine  protection,  whether  they 
were  upon  the  sea  or  upon  the  land,  at  war  or  at  peace. 
Raphael  the  patron  of  travellers  with  his  staff  in  his  hand,  at 
the  end  looking  towards  the  sea  :  Michael  the  warrior  and 
avenger  holding  his  sword,  at  the  angle  above  the  Piazzetta ; 
and  Gabriel  the  peacemaker  bearing  the  lily,  at  the  corner  next 
St.  Mark's.  Under  each  of  the  archangels  is  a  group  of 
figures  in  alto-relief.  The  drunkenness  of  Noah,  below  the 
statue  of  Raphael,  an  admonition  against  that  vice  and  a 
warning  against  filial  impiety,  is  happily  contrasted  with  tho 
filial  piety  of  the  young  Tobias,  who  sits  at  the  feet  of  Raphael 
holding  in  his  hand  the  fish  whose  liver  is  to  cure  his  father's 
blindness.  The  group  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  act  of  plucking 
the  forbidden  fruit,  under  the  statue  of  Michael  who  was  sent 
to  drive  them  out  of  their  forfeited  Paradise,  warns  all  men 
against  disobedience,  while  the  Judgment  of  Solomon,  below 
the  statue  of  Gabriel,  admonishes  the  magistrates  of  their 
duty  towards  the  people. 

The  carved  capitals  of  the  thirty-six  columns  upon  which 
the  edifice  rests  have  for  the  most  part  a  separate  as  well  as  a 
connected  meaning,  though  the  sculptor  apparently  allowed 
himself  here  and  there  a  certain  freedom  of  invention.  They 
represent  the  conditions  of  man,  the  animals  and  plants  needful 
for  his  existence  and  comfort,  the  planets  which  preside  over 
his  destiny  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  the  winds  which 
purify  the  air  and  propel  his  ships  across  the  sea.  The  capitals 
beginning  at  the  Raphael-end  of  the  fagade  are  decorated 
with  figures  of  children,  heads  of  young  knights  and  warriors, 
birds,  emperors  such  as  Titus  and  Trajan,  women's  heads, 
virtues  and  vices  symbolically  represented,  wise  men,  such  as 


The  D Ileal  Palaee,  201 

Solomon,  Aristotle,  and  Pythagoras,  the  planets  Saturn, 
Jupiter,  Mars,  and  Venus,  the  patron  saints  of  sculptors, 
each  working  upon  a  capital,  a  cornice,  or  a  figure,  the 
trades,  such  as  that  of  the  lapidary,  the  carpenter,  the  husband- 
man, the  blacksmith,  the  seasons  with  their  varying  occupa- 
tions, the  ages  of  man,  represented  by  the  infant,  the  school- 
boy, the  warrior,  the  student,  and  the  old  man  leaning  upon 
his  crutch,  and  dead  upon  his  bed,  the  courtship  and  marriage 
of  a  young  man  and  woman,  who  are  again  represented  with 
their  child,  first  an  infant  and  then  a  youth,  beside  whose 
deathbed  they  weep  and  pray.  Last  of  all  we  come  to  the 
column  of  Justice,  below  the  Judgment  of  Solomon  and  the 
statue  of  Gabriel.  Its  capital,  the  finest  of  the  series,  is 
covered  with  the  richest  leaf-work,  growing  upwards  from  its 
base  and  drooping  in  graceful  volutes,  between  which  aro 
inserted  figures  of  Justice  seated  upon  two  lions;  the  law^-givers 
Aristotle,  Solon,  Numa,  and  Moses ;  and  an  admirable  group  of 
the  Emperor  Trajan  reining  in  his  horse  to  listen  to  the  widow's 
prayer  for  vengeance  upon  the  murderer  of  her  son.~  The 
beautiful  description  of  this  subject  in  the  "  Purgatorio  "  may 
have  suggested  to  the  sculptor  the  happy  thought  of  making  a 
reality  of  that  visionary  sculpture  which  Dante  saw  carved  with 
a  more  than  mortal  skill  when  he  reached  the  circle  in  which 
the  sin  of  Pride  is  purged  away.f  The  figures  by  which  the 
Venetian  sculptor  has  rendered  this  fine  subject  are  defective 
in  their  relative  proportions  ;  but  their  technical  defects  are 
lost  sight  of  in  our  admiration  for  the  life  which  animates,  and 
the  sentiment  which  pervades  them.  The  capital,  and  the 
group  above  it,  appear  to  be  later  in  date  than  the  other  capitals 
and  groups,  for  although  we  may  believe  that  one  person 
planned  all  the  sculptures  as  parts  of  a  scheme  of  decoration, 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  its  execution  was  confined  to  the 
first  half  of  the   fourteenth  century.     The  Adam  and  Eve,  the 

*  In  note  73  to  Longfellow's  admiriible  translation  of  the  PurgatoriOf 
he  mentions  that  the  history  of  Trajan  and  the  widow  is  told  in  nearly 
the  same  words  in  the  Flore  de'  Fllosoji,  a  work  attributed  to  Brunette 
liatini  (vide  Nannncci,  Manuale  della  Letteratara  dal  prima  secolo, 
iii.  291).  It  may  also  be  found  in  the  Legenda  Aurea,  in  the  Cento 
Novelle  Antiche,  no.  67,  and  in  the  life  of  St.  Gregory  by  Paulas 
Diaconus. 

t  X.  73-93. 


202     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

figures  emblematic  of  the  planets,  and  those  carved  upon  the 
marriage  capital,  may  be  the  work  of  one  artist,  but  it 
would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  group  of  the  Judgment  of 
Solomon,  which  is  evidently  in  a  later  style,  was  sculptured  by 
the  same  hand. 

The  decided  superiority  of  the  Ducal  Palace  sculptures  over 
all  other  pre-Kenaissance  Venetian  marbles  is  so  remarkable, 
that  we  have  been  forced  to  seek  for  an  explanation  of  it  in 
some  extraordinary  cause,  such  as  the  influence  of  a  foreign 
artist  upon  a  native  sculptor  of  great  natural  ability,  but  how 
it  happened  that  this  influence  was  not  brought  to  bear  upon 
other  artists  of  the  time  is  a  mystery  that  we  cannot  penetrate. 

If  Vasari  is  to  be  believed,  Calendario  was  not  the  only 
sculptor  of  the  fourteenth  century  who  was  educated  by  a 
Tuscan  master,  for  he  tells  us  that  Jacopo  Lanfrani,  one  of 
Calendario's  contemporaries,  as  well  as  Jacobello  and  Pietro 
Paolo  delle  Massegne,  were  pupils  of  Agostino  and  Agnolo 
Sanesi.*  Unfortunately  the  Church  of  Sant'  Antonio  at 
Venice  f  and  that  of  San  Francesco  at  Imola,  both  of  which 
were  built  by  Lanfrani  (who  sculptured  many  bas-reliefs  about 
the  portal  of  the  latter  edifice),  have  been  destroyed,  so  that 
we  have  only  the  monument  of  Taddeo  Pepoli  (1337)  in  the 
church  of  San  Domenico  at  Bologna,  as  an  example  of  his 
manner,  and  here  it  is  not  unlike  that  of  his  alleged  Sieneso 
masters.  The  bas-relief  upon  the  sarcophagus,  which  stands  in 
an  arched  recess  above  a  blank  space  filled  in  with  diamond- 
shaped  slabs  of  white  and  black  marble,  represents  Taddeo,  who 
was  a  magistrate,  seated,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  book,  which 
he  appears  to  be  explaining  to  the  persons  standing  by  his  side. 
A  second  panel,  divided  from  the  first  by  a  statuette  of  an 
apostle,  contains  the  figures  of  an  angel  and  a  kneeling  donor, 
who  oflers  him  the  model  of  a  church.     The  figures  are  well- 


'o^ 


*  (See  chapter  iv. 

t  Sansavino,  p.  29.  This  cluirch  no  longer  exists.  The  Venetian 
ambassador  II  Magnifico  Piero  Pasqualigo  in  writing  from  London, 
April  15,  1515,  mentions  that  on  his  journey  through  France  he  visited 
St.  Denys,  and  there  saw  "the  tomb  of  Charles  VIII.  with  his  graven 
image  the  size  of  life,  wrought  by  the  same  artificer  that  did  the  statues 
of  St.  Anthony's  chiirch  at  Venice.  (See  Foxir  Years  at  the  Court  of 
Henry  VIII.,  Despatches  of  the  Venetian  Ambassador  Seb.  Giustiniani, 
L  83-4,  edited  by  liawdon  Brown,  Esq.). 


Tombs  at   Venice.  203 

proportioned,  quiet  in  action,  and  draped  with  much  simplicity, 
but  tlie  general  design  of  the  monument  has  no  such  points  of 
resemblance  with  that  adopted  by  the  Sienese  school  as  would 
lead  us  to  connect  Lanfrani  with  it. 

The  early  Gothic  tomb  common  at  Venice,  which  of  all  types 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  to  the  eye,  and  most  satisfactory  to 
the  mind  through  its  solemn  sentiment  and  fitness,  consists  of 
a  sarcophagus,  generally  set  high  up  against  the  wall  of  a  chapel 
under  an  arched  canopy,  whose  gable  is  adorned  with  crockets 
and  surmounted  by  a  finial.*  The  front  of  the  sarcophagus  is 
divided  into  two  panels,  containing  Scriptural  or  Historical  bas- 
reliefs,  with  a  statuette  of  Christ,  or  a  group  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child  under  a  little  baldacchino,  placed  between  them,  and 
figures  of  the  Angel  of  the  Annunciation  and  the  Virgin  carved 
at  either  end,  in  sign  of  that  hope  of  a  joyful  Eesurrection 
which  was  given  to  mankind  through  the  promise  made  to  her 
by  the  heavenly  messenger.  The  recumbent  effigy  was  origi- 
nally intended  to  represent  the  corpse  when  laid  out  in  the 
church  before  burial,  and  this  realistic  thought  was  spiritual- 
ized by  placing  angels  near  it,  either  holding  back  the  curtain 
which  hung  from  the  canopy  above  it,  or  standing  motionless 
with  censers  in  their  hands  beside  it,  or  supporting  the 
cushion  upon  which  the  head  rested.  Such  curtain-drawing 
angelsf  w'ere  introduced  at  Venice  towards  the  middle  of  the 
century  upon  the  monument  of  Andrea  Dandolo,  and  the 
sepulchral  effigy  is  first  seen  upon  that  of  Duccio  degli  Alibertit 
(d.  1336)  also  remarkable  as  the  first  upon  which  figures 
of  the  Virtues  appear.  That  this  type  of  tomb  was  not 
universally  followed  at  the  time  is  proved  by  that  of  the 
doge   Francesco  Dandolo,  a  sarcophagus  under  a  simple  arched 

*  These  ornaments,  as  well  as  the  elaborate  leaf-work  about  friezes  and 
cornices,  are  for  the  niost  part  treated  too  pictorially  bj'  Venetian  artists, 
who  having  passed  directly  from  Oriental  to  Northern  influences,  without 
that  intermediate  study  of  the  antique  which  chastened  the  manner  of 
the  early  Gothic  masters  in  Tuscany,  were  from  the  beginning  wanting 
in  purity  of  style. 

t  First  used  in  Italy  by  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  in  the  tomb  of  Cardinal 
de  Braye  (1285)  at  Orvieto,  and  adopted  by  Giovanni  Pisano  in  that 
of  Pope  Benedict  XT   at  Perugia  (1305);   see  ch.  ii.  and  iii. 

X  Ambassador  to  Florence  when  Venice  was  allied  with  that  city 
against  Mastino  Cane,  lord  of  Verona. 


204     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptnre. 

canopy,*  adorned  with  a  bas-relief  of  the  Death  of  the  Virgin, 
and  by  that  of  Bartolomeo  Gradenigo,  his  successor,  who  was 
buried  within  the  atrium  of  St.  Mark's  in  a  sarcophagus  with- 
out an  effigy,  adorned  with  poorly-sculptured  statuettes  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  Angel  of  Annunciation  at  the  angles,  and  with 
a  central  bas-relief  of  the  doge  kneeling  before  the  Madonna,  j- 
In  the  monument  erected  to  S.  Isidoro  in  his  chapel  at  St. 
Mark's  by  Andrea  Dandolo,  we  find  two  of  the  distinctive 
features  of  the  perfected  Gothic  tomb,  namely  the  effigy,  which 
is  remarkably  fine,  and  the  canopy,  while  in  that  of  Andrea 
Dandolo  in  the  baptistry  of  St.  Mark's  the  type  is  completed 
by  the  curtain-drawing  angels. 

A  simple  sarcophagus  placed  high  up  against  the  wall  in  the 
church  of  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  with  a  St.  Paul  and  two 
praying  angels  sculptured  upon  its  front  and  a  recumbent 
figure  so  resting  on  an  inclined  plane  upon  its  lid  that  it  may 
be  seen  from  below,  contains  the  remains  of  Paolo  Loredano 
(1354),  a  brave  and  able  soldier  of  his  time,  captain-general 
of  the  republic  when  Venice  was  menaced  by  the  Genoese,  her 
ambassador  at  Milan  when  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  was 
crowned,  and  her  chief  instrument  in  quelling  the  revolt  of  the 
Candiotes  under  Giovanni  Calerm.  Certain  tombs  bv  unknown 
sculptors,  which  are  variously  regarded  as  works  of  the  Milanese 
Campionesi,  or  of  the  Venetian  ]\Iassegne,|  show  how  closely 
the  two  schools,  both  of  which  had  a  common  Pisan  root, 
resemble  each  other.  From  this  cause  it  is  often  very  difficult  to 
distinguish  between  them,  as  the  figures  in  both  are  extremely 
unstudied  in  pose  and  sober  in  gesture.  This  is  the  case  in 
the  simple    monument  of   the   doge  Marco    Cornaro  at  San 

*  The  canopy  still  exists  in  its  original  position  in  the  chapter-house  of 
the  Frari.  The  sarcophagus  is  in  a  desecrated  cloii^ter  at  the  Salute. 
The  statue  of  this  doge  kneeling  before  the  lion  of  St.  Mark  with  a 
banner  in  his  hand  was  sculptured  by  a  certain  Maestro  Martino,  and  set 
up  over  the  portal  of  the  Ducal  Palace  which  he  built.  "  "We,  Andrea 
Dandolo  and  Marco  Loredano,  procurators  of  St.  Mark's,  have  paid 
Atartino  Tajapiera  and  his  associates  for  a  stone  of  which  the  lion  is  made, 
which  is  put  over  the  gate  of  the  palace. — 1344,  Nov.  4 :  We  have  paid 
thirty-five  golden  ducats  for  gold-leaf  to  gild  the  said  lion." 

f  This  is  the  doge  to  whom  the  fisherman  brought  the  ring  of  St. 
Mark — a  scene  represented  in  the  splendid  picture  by  Paria  Bordonc  at 
the  Academy. 

J  Calvi,  op.  cit.  p.  59;  Selvatico,  op.  cit.  p.  143. 


Venetian  ]\Ionunient'i. 


205 


Giovanni  e  Paolo,  above  whose  plain  sarcophagus  are  five 
statuettes  in  niches  of  the  Virgin,  with  S3.  Peter  and  Paul 
and  two  patron  saints,  carefully  sculptured  in  a  quiet  style  ; 
and  with  that  of  the  Senator  Simon  Dandolo  (13 GO)  at  the 
Frari,  whose  sarcoj)hagus  is  decorated  with  the  usual  figures 
of  the  angel  and  the  Madonna,  and  a  group  of  the  Madonna 
enthroned,  and  overshadowed  by  a  curtain  held  up  by  four 
diminutive  angels ;  and  with  that  of  the  doge  Giovanni  Dolfin 
(13G1),  one  of  the  most  noted  Gothic  monuments  in  the  church 
of  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo.  Here  the  sarcophagus,  which  is 
enriched  with  statuettes,  and  with  bas-reliefs  of  the  doge  and 
the  dogaressa  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  the  enthroned  Christ,  the 
Death  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  Epiphany,  has  an  elaborate  cor- 
nice and  plinth,  decorated  with  leaf- work.  The  details  of  these 
Venetian  monuments,  though  effective  and  well  calculated  to 
add  to  the  general  picturesqueness  of  their  appearance,  are 
seldom  of  much  value,  though  the  recumbent  figures  are  often 
excellent  in  sentiment,  and  impressive  by  reason  of  their  rigid 
quietness.  The  bas-reliefs,  however,  which  serve  chiefly  to 
break  the  monotony  of  plain  surfaces,  cannot  for  a  moment  be 
compared  with  those  uj)on  Tuscan  monuments  of  the  time. 
Generally  speaking  the  statuettes  of  saints  and  angels  are 
diminutive  and  of  little  importance,  and  they  suffer  by  the 
ever-increasing  prominence  given  to  leaf-ornaments,  crockets, 
and  finials. 

We  have  already  referred  to  Jacobello  and  Pietro  Paolo,  sons 
of  Antonio  delle  Massegne  or  de'  Massegni,  as  the  supposed 
scholars  of  Agostino  and  Agnolo  Sanesi,  but  we  are  rather 
inclined  to  connect  them  less  directly  with  Tuscany  through 
Bonino  da  Campione  (the  scholar  of  Balduccio  da  Pisa)  to  whom 
several  anonymous  Gothic  tombs  in  Venice  are  attributed.'''" 
The  altar-piece  by  the  Massegne  (1388)  in  the  church  of  San 
Francesco  at  Bologna, f  which  consists  of  bas-reliefs  of  the 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  and  other  subjects,  and  of  simple 
and    unpretending  statuettes  of   saints,   carefully  draped,  but 

*  Calvi,  Of.  cU.  p.  69. 

f  The  contract  for  this  work  (made  between  the  Frati  Minori  and 
the  Massegne  in  1388),  given  by  the  Marchese  Davia,  overthrows  the 
statement  of  A^'asari  that  it  was  made  in  1320  by  Agnsliiio  and  Agnolo 
Sanesi  (see  Vasari,  vol.  ii.  p.  7,  note  1;  and  Gualandi,  Gaida  di  Bulogna^ 
p.  03).     The  price  agreed  upon  was  2,150  gold  ducats. 


2o6     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scitlptni^e. 

somewhat  heavy  in  their  proportions,  as  well  as  the  statuettes 
of  the  Virgin,  with  SS.  Mark,  Peter  and  Clement  (1394),  the 
Madonna  with  SS.  Christina,  Clara,  and  Catherine  at  St. 
Mark's  (1397),  and  the  monument  to  the  doge  Antonio  Venier 
(1400),  over  the  door  of"  the  Cappella  del  Rosario  at  San  Gio- 
vanni e  Paolo,  and  under  the  tomb  of  the  doge  Micheli 
Morosini  (1382),  one  of  the  richest  examples  of  the  florid 
Gothic  style,  are  further  examples  of  their  style. 

As  we  approach  the  Pienaissance,  we  are  more  and  more 
struck  with  the  want  of  proper  balance  between  decoration  and 
the  thing  decorated,  and  of  fit  subordination  of  detail  to  general 
effect.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  portal  of  the  church  of  S. 
Stefano,  which  is  attributed  to  the  Massegne,  the  rank  stone 
vegetation  about  the  Gothic  arch  is  quite  out  of  proportion  with 
the  dimensions  of  the  arch  itself.*  Paolo,  the  son  of  Jacobello, 
who  was  a  more  original  artist  than  either  his  father  or  his 
uncle,  made  the  tomb  of  the  Veronese  condottiere  Jacopo 
Cavalli  (1384),  at  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  which,  though  robbed 
of  its  statuettes  and  no  longer  brilliant  with  colour,  is  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  at  Venice. f  The  effigy  of  the  brave  knight 
clad  in  armour,  with  his  hands  crossed  upon  his  breast,  his 
head  resting  upon  a  lion,  and  his  feet  upon  a  dog,  fit  emblems 
of  his  honour  and  fidelity,  lies  upon  the  sarcophagus  which 
is  richly  but  heavily  adorned  with  leaf-mouldings,  and  with 
roundels  containing  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  in  alto- 
relief.  The  sarcophagus  by  Paolo  of  the  famous  general 
Prendiparte  Pico  in  the  church  of  San  Francesco  at  Mirandola, 
is  decorated  with  bas-reliefs,  arms,  and  medallion  portraits  of 
Prendiparte  and  his  wife  Catarina  Cornari.  Its  compositions 
are  simple  and  clear,  but  the  figures  ai-e  heavy,  and  the  work- 
manship is  not  over-careful.  It  is  in  the  variety  of  design  and 
the  distinct  character  of  Paolo's  monuments  that  he  proved 

*  Selvatico,  of^.  ci7."p.  123,  says  that  a  Jacopo  Celega  and  his  son 
Paolo,  who  built  the  campanile  of  the  Frari  between  1361  and  1396,  are 
perhaps  identical  with  the  ]\Iasse^ne.  The  Pietro  Paolo  who  was  called 
to  Udine  to  build  the  duomo  in  1366  is  perhaps  one  of  the  same  family,  and 
he  may  have  sculptured  some  of  the  statuettes  about  the  great  window 
of  the  Sala  del  Maggior  Consiglio  at  the  ducal  palace,  finished  in  1405. 

t  The  engraving  in  Zanotti's  work,  11  Valazzo  Ducale,  shows  that 
there  were  originally  statuettes  of  Faith,  Hojoe  and  Charity  on  projecting 
"brackets  in  front  of  this  tomb  (see  Puskin.  op.  cit.  iil  82). 


Venice.  207 

Ilia  originality  and  fertility  of  invention,  and  showed  Lis  superi- 
ority to  his  contemporaries.  Among  them  were  the  Maestro 
Andi'iolo  or  Andreoli  (1372),*  who  built  the  chapel  of  San 
Felice  in  S.  Antonio  at  Padua,  for  Bonifazio  di  Lupi  Marchese 
di  Soragna,f  and  sculptured  the  rather  lifeless  but  not  ill- 
draped  statuettes  of  the  marquis  and  his  wife,  v»'ith  those  of 
SS.  James,  Peter,  and  Paul  above  its  entrance,  as  well  as  the 
two  sarcophagi  ornamented  with  discs  of  porphyry  and  Oriental 
granite,  which  stand  within  it ;  J  Piaynaldinus  (1375)  who  made 
the  thickset,  stiffly-posed  statuettes  of  the  Virgin  and  Child, 
and  those  of  SS.  Peter,  Paul,  and  James,  which  stand  upon  the 
altar  in  the  same  chapel  ;§  Giovanni  de'  Sanctis  (1390),  who  lies 
with  his  father  Filippo  the  sculptor  j|  at  Sta.  Maria  dell'  OrtOj^^lf 
and  is  known  through  his  epitaph  to  have  sculptured  a  group  of 
the  JNIadonna  and  Child  which  he  gave  to  the  church ;  Bernardo 
da  Venezia  (13'J6),  the  first  head-architect^*  of  the  Certosa  at 

*  He  has  been  confounded  with  an  Andreolo  di  Ferrari  Francescano, 
the  scholar  of  Giovamii  da  Giussano,  who  worked  for  the  duomo  at  Milan 
towards  the^ end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  who  had  no  reputation 
as  a  sculptor  CGonzati,  i.  173).- 

t  The  contract  for  the  building  of  the  chajiel  of  San  Felice  is  dated 
February  12,  1372  (see  Gonzati,  vol  i.  p.  107,  doc.  102). 

X  The  marquis  lies  buried  in  one  of  the  sarcophagi,  and  a  de'  Eossi  of 
Parma  in  the  other. 

§  The  head  of  Saint  Paul  is  a  restoration  by  Giovanni  Bonazza. 
Raynaldinus  received  196  ducats  for  these  statuettes  (see  Gonzati,  vol.  i. 
pp.  113,  174,  doc.  102;  and  Gualandi,  series  vi.  p.  135,  no.  193,  and 
p.  145). 

II  Cicogna,  Isc.  Ven.  ii.  278,  says  that  Filippo  sculptured  the  sarco- 
phagus of  the  Eeato  Oderici,  a  Minorite  monk,  who  died  in  1331. 

^  Sta.  Maria  dell'  Orto,  originally  called  San  Cristoforo,  changed  its 
name  in  honour  of  a  rude  image  of  the  Virgin  found  by  the  monks  in  an 
adjoining  garden  a.d.  1377  (Ricci,  op.  cit.  ii.  377).  The  huge  colossal 
wooden  statue  of  St.  Christopher  with  painted  face,  hair  and  robes,  upon 
an  altar  in  this  church,  was  sculptured  by  Gaspai'o  Moranzone,  one  of  a 
family  which  produced  several  artists.  The  same  Gasparo  ornamented 
two  altar  fronts  in  S.  Stefano  and  S.  Giobbe  (Sansavino,  lib.  ii.  p.  60,  and 
lib.  iii.  p.  57;  Cicogna,  vol.  i.  p.  83,  no.  176)  Francesco  Moranzone,  a 
wood  carver,  carved  a  frame  for  a  picture  by  Donato  Veneziano  iu  1460. 
In  1500  his  son  Jacopo  went  to  Udine  to  do  the  like  for  a  picture  by 
Pellegrinoda  San  Daniele  (]\raniago,  pp.  42,  293,  ed.  1823).  This  Jacopo 
di  Francesco  was  also  a  painter. 

**  Calvi,  op.  cit.  pt.  i.  p.  103,  and  a  pamphlet  entitled  La  Fondazione 
del  Tempio  clella  Certosa  by  the  same  author. 


2o8     Historical  Haiidbooh  of  Italian  Sctdptiire, 

Pa  via,  who  was  employed  by  the  Duke  Gian  Galeazzo  to  LuiKl 
the  castle  of  Pavia  (1391),  and  by  the  directors  of  the  Cathedral 
at  Milan  to  sculpture  a  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  in 
wood,  which  stood  for  many  years  above  the  high  altar ;  and 
lastly.  Maestro  Bonasuto  or  Bonafuto,  of  Venice  (1394),  who 
sculptured  the  half-figures  of  prophets  and  saints  upon  the  base 
of  the  facade  of  St.  Petronius  at  Bologna  in  a  bold  effective 
style.*  Together  with  the  works  of  these  sculptors  we  may 
mention  one  of  the  best  examples  of  a  common  form  of 
memorial  used  at  this  time  at  Venice,  the  sepulchral  slab  of 
Boiiincontro  di  Boaterii,  a  celebrated  Bolognese  jurisconsult, 
abbot  of  San  Giorgio,  set  into  the  wall  of  a  corridor  leading 
from  the  church  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore  to  the  Cappella  dei 
Morti.  The  effigy  of  the  deceased  in  flat  relief,  which  is 
enclosed  in  a  sort  of  niche,  represents  him  clad  in  the  long 
mantle  of  a  novice,  holding  a  copy  of  the  decretals  in  his  hand, 
which  he  is  expounding  to  his  disciples  who  are  sculptured  "in 
little  "  at  his  feet. 

The  period  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  (1300-1450),  during 
which  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture  prevailed  at  Venice,  is 
represented  by  three  schools  of  sculpture,  namely,  those  of 
Calendario  and  of  the  Massegne,  of  which  we  have  been  speak- 
ing, and  that  of  the  Bons,  Giovanni  and  his  sons  Eartolomeo 
and  Pantaleone,  which  we  have  yet  to  examine.  These  artists, 
who  were  probably  born  Venetians,  lived  in  the  Contrada  a  San 
Marziale,  near  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  dell'  Orto.  On 
November  10th,  1438,  Giovanni  and  Bartolomeo  contracted  to 
build  the  great  gate  of  the  palace  contiguous  to  the  church  of 
*'  Misier  San  Marcho,"  which  was  at  first  called  the  Porta 
Dorata,  and  afterwards  the  Porta  della  Carta  because  public 
edicts  were  affixed  to  it.f  This  elaborate  structure  in  the  florid 
Gothic  style  has  a  pointed  window  filled  in  with  rich  tracery, 
surmounted  by  a  roundel  supported  by  flying  angels,  containing 
a  half  figure  of  St.  Mark.     Its  square-headed  portal  is  flanked 

*  Cicognara,  Storia  della  Scultura,  pp.  321,  429,  and  Selvatico,  p.  124. 

t  The  Porta  della  Carta  was  built  between  1139  and  141-3,  under  the 
doge  Francesco  Foscari.  In  1412  the  Bons,  father  and  son,  promised  to 
complete  the  figures  about  it  within  a  year  (doc.  pub.  by  Gualandi, 
eeries  vi.  p.  105).  The  price  agreed  upon  for  the  whole  work  was  1,700 
gold  ducats  (Selvatico,  p.  loG). 


Giovanni  and  Bartolomeo  Don. 


209 


with  three-sided  pilasters  divided  into  four  portions  by  string 
courses,  two  of  which  are  adorned  with  canopied  niches  contain- 
ing heavily-draped  statues  of  the  Virtues  {see  woodcut),  which 
are  cold  in  feeling  and  without  individuality.  As  the  gate  is 
inscribed  with  the  words  ''  Opus  Bartolomei,"  we  may  suppose 
that  Giovanni's  assistance  was  almost  nominal,  but  he  and  his 
sons  certainly  worked  together 
upon  the  statuettes  and  other  de- 
corations of  the  internal  fa9ades 
of  the  Palace,  and  built  the  cor- 
ridor leading  from  the  Porta  della 
Carta  to  the  Giant's  Staircase.* 
It  is  to  payment  for  these  works 
(1463),  as  we  believe,  that  reference 
is  made  in  an  order  of  the  Council 
by  which  Maestro  Bartolomeo  Bon 
is  commissioned  to  finish  the 
palace-decorations. t 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that 
Calendario  and  Bartolomeo  Bon, the 
two  most  eminent  sculptors  of  their 
day,  should  have  been  employed 
by  the  two  most  unfortunate  of 
doges,  the  one  to  commence,  the 
otherto  terminate  the  Ducal  Palace. 
Just  two  years  more  than  a  cen- 
tury after  the  decapitation  of  Marino  Faliero  upon  its  steps, 
Francesco  Foscari,  old  and  worn-out  with  grief,  fell  deadl 
in  the  same  place,  when  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  bell 
which  announced  the  election  of  his  successor  (1457).  He 
was  buried  at  the  Frari  in  a  tomb  which  although  it  has  some 
Gothic  elements,  such  as  the   trefoil  arches  which  support  the 

*  Selvatico,  op.  cit.  p.  135.  , 

t  "  Azio  che  tanta  degna  opera  per  piccola  cosa  non  restasse  essere 
complida"  (Gualandi,  series  vi.  p.  108).  In  1797  the  group  of  the  doge 
Francesco  Foscari  kneeling  before  tlie  winged  lion,  which  stood  above  the 
doorway  of  the  Porta  della  Carta,  was  thrown  down.  The  mask  alone 
escaped  destruction,  and  now  forms  one  ot  the  objects  of  interest  in  the 
museum  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  but  as  it  was  very  coarsely  sculptured,  that 
it  might  produce  an  eflect  when  seen  Irom  a  distance,  it  is  no  fair  example 
of  Bartolomeo's  skill. 


2IO     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

sarcophagus,  the  crockets  upon  the  pediment,  and  the  pinnacle 
surmounted  by  a  statuette  of  our  Lord,  is  the  first  important 
example  of  monumental  Renaissance  work  at  Venice,  The  same 
doge  employed  Bartolomeo  Bon  to  build  the  Cappella  dei  Mascoli 
at  St.  Mark's,  and  to  make  statues  of  the  Madonna,  SS.  Mark 
and  John  for  the  three  Gothic  niches  over  its  altar.  These 
heavily-draped  lifeless  figures  are  in  the  same  style  as  those  of 
the  Virtues  upon  the  Porta  della  Carta,  but  the  angels  bearing 
censers  on  its  front  are  in  a  much  purer  manner,  not  unlike  that 
of  some  of  the  earlier  capitals  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  and  that  of 
the  Madonna  and  angels  in  the  lunette  over  a  side  door  of  the 
Frari,*  or  of  the  emblem  of  St.  Matthew  upon  the  facade  of  a 
house  near  the  Ponte  del  Piavano,  all  of  which  are  works  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  We  may  not,  therefore,  be  wrong  in  the 
conjecture  that  Bartolomeo  used  old  material  for  the  adornment 
of  this  altar,  in  accordance  with  a  practice  at  one  time  common 
at  Venice.  Other  works  attributed  to  him  are  the  Madonna 
della  Misericordia,  with  statuettes  of  SS.  Cristina,  Calista  and 
Dorotea,  in  the  church  of  the  Abazia  ;  the  statuettes  above 
the  door  of  the  Scuola  di  San  Marco  ;  the  archivolts  of  the 
lower  and  of  the  second  story  of  the  facade  of  St.  Mark's, 
adorned  with  leaves  and  figures  of  saints ;  the  facade  of  the 
church  of  Sta.  Maria  dell'  Orto  with  its  row  of  niches  decorated 
with  statuettes,  and  a  very  ornate  well  in  a  cortile  near  San 
Giovanni  e  Paolo.  There  is  also  at  Udine,  on  the  angle  of 
Palazzo  Publico,  a  Gothic  tabernacle  containing  a  mediocre 
figure  of  the  Madonna  holding  in  her  hand  the  model  of  a 
church,  which  may  be  his  work,  as  it  is  said  to  have  been  made 
by  the  same  sculptor  who  made  the  portal  of  the  Ducal  Palace 
at  Venice. f  It  is  possible  also  that  he  is  the  "Maestro  Bar- 
tolomeo" who  went  to  Constantinople  (1472)  with  Gentile  Bel- 
lini, when  the  Sultan  requested  the  Signory  to  send  him  a  por- 
trait-painter and  a  sculptor. +  This  supposition  seems  plausible, 
as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  signing  his  works  with  his  Christian 
name  only,  and  we  know  of  but  one  other  contemporary  artist 

*  Cicognara  strangely  enongK  attributes  this  work  to  Pyrgoteles,  a 
second-rate  sculptor  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

f  Llaniago,  Guida  nel  Friuli,  p.  59. 

X  Doc.  ined.  trouves  par  M.  de  Mas  Latrie,  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arte, 
liv.  du  le--  mars  18GC,  p.  286  et  seq. 


Venice.  2 1 1 

named  Bartolomeo,  who  thouf^h  eminent  as  an  architect  had  too 
little  reputation  as  a  sculptor  to  have  been  sent  to  a  foreign 
country.* 

We  come  now  to  the  time  when  the  Renaissance  style  was 
introduced  at  Venice,  in  all  pr'^bability  by  Michelozzo,  when  he 
accompanied  Cosmo  de'  Medici  during  the  year  of  exile  which 
he  passed  in  the  convent  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore  (1430-1),  and 
set  an  example  of  the  revived  use  of  classical  forms  in  the 
library  which  he  built  adjoining  the  convent. f  His  initiative 
was  followed  by  Pietro  Lombardo,  and  Antonio  di  Giovanni 
Bregno  (commonly  called  Kizzo  or  Eiccio),|  both  of  whom 
have  been  called  the  pioneers  of  the  Renaissance  movement  at 
Venice.  The  honour  may  be  fairly  divided  between  them,  as 
though  Rizzo  was  the  elder  of  the  two,  the  works  of  Pietro 
Lombardo  had  much  the  greater  influence.  Rizzo  was  born 
at  Verona  about  1410,  and  formed  his  classical  taste  upon  the 
noble  Roman  ruins  which  are  still  her  pride,  but  he  is  called 
a  Venetian  in  documents  of  the  time,§  because  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  at  Venice,  where  he  was  superintendent 
of  the  "  Bottega  di  Tajapiera,"  or  workshop  of  the  sculptors  and 
stone-cutters  connected  with  the  palace.  ||  In  1474,  when  he  went 
to  Scutari,  with  Antonio  Loredano  and  Count  Aloise  Quirini,  to 
defend   that  town   against  the    Turks,    his    knowledge  of    the 

*  Bartolomeo  Buono,  architect  of  the  Procuratie  veccMe. 

f  See  Michelozzo,  book  ii.  cli.  ii. 

J  Scardeone,  A^asari  and  Sansavino  have  all  fallen  into  the  blunder  of 
identifying  him  with  the  renowned  bronze-caster  Andrea  Eiccio  of  Padua. 
He  has  also  been  confounded  with  Lorenzo  Bregno  (perhaps  a  relative),  a 
mediocre  sculptor  who  flourished  about  1510. 

§  As  for  instance,  in  the  decree  of  14-83,  by  which  his  salary  was  raised, 
he  is  called  Antonius  Riccius  Yenetus — because,  as  Morelli  (notes  to 
I'Anonimo,  p.  97)  remarks,  he  had  long  held  the  office  of  ingregnere  or 
architect  to  the  Illustrissima  Signoria  di  Venezia.  Colucio  speaks  of 
him  as  a  Veronese,  as  does  Zovenzorno  in  a  sonnet  to  '"  Crispo  Veronensi 
marmorario  clarissimo,"  and  his  biographer  Dott.  0.  Bernasconi  in  a 
pamphlet  entitled  La  Vita  eleopere  di  Antonio  Rizzo,  arcliitetto  e  scnltore 
Veronese,  Verona,  1859. 

II  Bernasconi,  pt.  i.  p.  13,  and  Cadorin,  p.  14.  The  stone-cutters 
(scarpellini)  and  the  sculptors  (scultorl)  of  that  time  both  belonged  to  the 
guild  of  the  Tajapiere  and  both  worked  as  architects.  In  1723  they  were 
se[)arated  into  distinct  guilds  through  the  agency  of  the  sculptor  Ant. 
Conadino. 

p  2 


212     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

art  of  defence  proved  so  valuable,  and  bis  brave  conduct  during 
the  siege  attracted  so  much  notice,  that  on  his  return  to  Venice 
the  Senate  gave  him  a  twenty  yeai's'  pension.  A  few  years 
later  (1483),  when  a  portion  of  the  Ducal  Palace  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  he  was  appointed  its  head  architect,  with  a  salary  of 
125  ducats  a  year,  and  this  was  soon  after  increased  to  200,  in 
consideration  of  his  having  closed  his  workshop,  which  brought 
him  in  three  times  the  amount  of  this  salary,  that  he  might 
the  better  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  office.  Unfortunately  his 
conduct  did  not  justify  the  confidence  of  the  Signory,  for  in  the 
course  of  the  next  thirteen  years  he  appropriated  much  of  the 
public  money  to  his  own  uses,  and  when  suspicions  were 
awakened  and  investigations  were  about  to  be  commenced,  fled 
from  Venice  to  Foligno,  where  he  died  on  the  14th  of  March, 
1498.*  "  Excellent  architect,  illustrious  geometrician,  most 
skilful  sculptor,  and  most  gifted  superintendent  of  the  work- 
men attached  to  the  Ducal  Palace,"  as  he  is  called  in  the  decree 
by  which  he  was  appointed  to  be  chief  adviser  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Vicenza  ;f  he  was  also  a  skilful  mechanician 
and  an  able  military  engineer.  As  sculptor  he  is  known  to  us 
only  by  his  statues  of  Adam  and  Eve,]:  in  niches  opposite  the 
Giant's  Staircase,  of  which  he  was  the  architect. §     Each  holds 

*  Sanuto,  vol.  i.  pt.  p.  27,  says  that  Kizzo  expended  19,000  ducats 
•while  in  office,  the  greater  part  for  his  own  private  uses.  Malipiero, 
Illustrazioni  delle  due  /Statue  di  Adamo  ed  Eva,  p.  1,  tells  the  story  and 
adds,  "  Emigro  a  Foligno  e  poco  dopo  mori."  One  would  be  glad  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  this  story,  and  some  grounds  for  doing  so  may  be 
found  in  the  decree  appointing  his  successor  which  simply  speaks  of  Rizzo 
as  absent ;  but  it  is  circumstantially  told  by  several  Venetian  writers  of 
authority,  and  accepted  as  true  by  his  enthusiastic  panegyrist  and  fellow- 
countryman  Bernasconi,  who  would  certainly  have  proved  its  falsity  had 
he  been  able  to  do  so.  He  attributes  the  silence  of  the  senate  to  honour- 
able motives  of  delicacy  towards  an  aged  artist  of  genius  who  had  ren- 
dered them  long  and  useful  service  {op.  cit.  p.  22). 

t  Morelli,  notes  to  1'  Anonimo. 

t  These  statues  were  not  set  up  in  their  niches  till  about  1471,  but 
Morelli  thinks  they  were  made  about  14G2.  A  group  of  the  doge  Cristo- 
foro  Moro  kneeling  before  the  winged  lion,  perhaps  by  Eizzo,  which  stood 
above  the  upper  arch  of  the  facade,  was  thrown  down  in  1797. 

§  Giovanni  da  Spalatro,  Aloise  di  Pantaleone,  M.  Domenico  and 
Stefano  Tagliapiera  assisted  Rizzo  in  this  staircase.  The  delicate 
ornaments  upon  it  were  sculptured  by  Domenico  and  Bernardino  da 
Mantova  scholars  of  Eizzo. 


Pietro  Loinbardo.  213 

an  apple,  but  while  Eve  casts  down  her  eyes  as  if  convicted  of 
sin,  Adam  places  one  hand  upon  his  breast,  and  raises  his  eyes 
to  heaven  as  if  seeking  to  justify  himself.  In  flow  of  line  and 
contrasted  action  of  limb  and  muscle,  this  figure  is  superior  to 
the  common  run  of  architectural  statues.  The  overcrowded, 
ugly,  and  disjointed  monument  of  the  doge  Nicolo  Tron  at  the 
Frari  is  attributed  to  Rizzo,  but  it  seems  unworthy  of  his 
reputation. 

Pietro  di  Martino  Lombardo,  the  son  of  a  marble-worker  at 
Venice,  had  three  sons — Tullio,  Antonio,  and  Giulio — architects 
and  sculptors,  who,  like  their  father,  were  attached  to  the  Ducal 
Palace,  and  worked  under  Eizzo's  direction.  They  have  been 
called  his  scholars,*  but  it  is  hardly  credible  that  Pietro,  who 
was  of  about  the  same  age  as  Piizzo,  and  rivalled  him  in 
reputation,  did  not  instruct  his  own  sons.f  Pietro  evidently 
stood  high  in  his  profession  in  1480,  as  he  then  successfully 
competed  with  several  eminent  architects  for  the  commission 
to  build  the  church  of  S.  Maria  da'  Miracoli.  Four  years 
elapsed  before  he  commenced  to  do  so,  as  he  was  called  to 
Ravenna  by  Bernardo  Bembo,  then  its  Venetian  governor,  to 
make  the  tomb  of  Dante,  t     The  manner  in  which  he  acquitted 

*  Tide  Temanza,  pp.  79,80;  Cadorin,  p.  140;  and  Selvatico,  p.  185; 
and  the  commentary  to  the  Life  of  Vittore  Scarpaccia,  Vasari,  vi.  128^ 
Other  Lombard!  wei-e  :  Ser  Giovanni  de  Ser  Tullio,  mentioned  as  a  witness 
to  a  deed,  dated  November  20,  1515,  preserved  at  the  Museo  Correr, 
Vincenzo  was  the  son  of  Antonio,  and  Sante  the  son  of  Giulio.  Tullio  II. 
and  Girolamo  were  sons  of  Sante.  Martino  II.  and  his  son  Moro  are  not 
certainly  known  to  have  belonged  to  the  same  family. 

f  Pompouius  Gauricus  De  Sculphira,  a  work  published  in  Pietro's 
lifetime,  says  that  they  were  rivals. 

J  After  Dante's  death  his  remains  were  buried  at  Ravenna,  in  a  stono 
sarcophagus,  by  his  friend  Guido  Novello,  whose  exile  and  death  prevented 
him  from  carrying  out  his  intention  of  giving  them  a  more  fitting  resting- 
place.  In  1692  the  monument  made  by  Pietro  Lombardo  was  restored 
at  the  expense  of  the  city,  and  in  1780  the  chapel  in  which  it  stands  was 
erected  by  the  Cardinal  Luigi  Valenti  Gonzaga.  The  bones  of  Dante 
were  supposed  to  have  been  removed  from  their  original  resting-place  by 
the  Franciscan  friars  in  1519,  when  they  feared  that  Pope  Leo  X.  would 
order  them  to  be  taken  to  Florence,  but  in  June  1865  a  wooden  chest  was 
discovered  in  the  wall  adjoining  the  chapel  of  Braccioforte,  within  which 
they  were  found  complete,  together  with  a  paper  stating  that  Fra  Antonio 
Santi,  chancellor  of  the  convent  of  San  Francisco,  had  placed  them  there 
for  safe  keeping  in  the  year  1677.     This  discovery  having  been  made  at 


214     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

himself  of  the  task  was  so  unworthy  of  the  greatness  of  the 
opportunity  offered,  that  we  cannot  suppose  he  was  led  to  accept 
it  by  any  strong  feeling  of  enthusiasm  for  the  great  poet,  for 
instead  of  representing  him  as  seated  before  a  reading-desk  with 
books  lying  upon  it,  in  a  cold  and  lifeless  alto-relief  which  har- 
monizes but  too  well  with 

"  The  little  cupola  more  neat  than  solemn  '* 

under  which  it  is  placed,  he  would  have  exhausted  his  skill  in 
carving  even  richer  arabesques  and  ornaments  than  those  by 
which  he  afterwards  made  his  reputation  at  Venice.*  After 
his  return  there  in  1484,  Pietro  completed  the  plan  accepted 
for  Sta.  Maria  de'  Miracoli  by  adding  to  it  the  chapel  of  the 
Sanctuary,  and  signed  a  new  contract  with  the  directors,  by 
which  they  agreed  to  furnish  him  with  building  materials,  and 
to  pay  him  an  annual  salary  of  GO  ducats. f  Eight  years  later 
he  had  built  and  ornamented  the  church,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  elaborate  examples  of  Renaissance  architec- 
ture, conscientiously  worked  out  with  infinite  skill  in  every 
detail.  Without  and  within,  its  walls,  doorways  and  pilasters 
are  covered  with  leaves,  flowers,  birds,  and  strange  creatures 
born  of  a  fancy  wayward  but  ever  logical  in  its  deductions  from 

the  very  time  when  the  Florentines  were  pi-eparing  to  inaugurate  a  statue 
of  the  poet  on  the  Piazza  di  Sta.  Croce,  with  the  ceremony  befitting  an 
occasion  looked  upon  as  the  consecration  of  the  newly-achieved  indepen- 
dence of  Italy,  created  a  great  sensation,  and  was  received  by  many  as  a 
token  of  Dante's  share  in  the  consummation  of  the  work  to  which  he  had 
60  powerfully  contributed  by  his  life  and  writings. 

*  While  at  Ravenna,  Pietro  made  a  S.  Apollinare  and  a  winged  lion  to 
be  placed  as  signs  of  Venetian  sovereignty  on  the  top  of  two  columns  in 
the  public  square.  Temanza,  p.  81,  says  that  the  S.  Apollinare  was 
sculptured  by  Pietro  Lombardo,  and  not  by  a  hypothetical  artist  named 
Pietro  da  Ferrara.     Sec  BarutFaldi,  o-p.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  215,  note  1. 

t  Selvatioo,  op.  cit.  p.  186,  says  that  this  chapel  is  undoubtedly  by 
Pietro  Lombardo.  Bernasconi  who  denies  it,  see  Oj7.  cit.  p.  42,  says  that 
it  is  incredible  that  this  chapel  should  not  have  been  comprised  in  the 
original  plan,  as  it  was  for  the  sanctuary  that  the  Venetians  wished  to 
build  the  church.  When  it  was  proposed  to  build  it  in  honour  of  a 
wonder-working  image  of  the  Virgin,  80,000  ducats  were  collected  for  the 
purpose  in  a  few  months,  and  a  board  of  management  comjiosed  of  six 
i:)atricians  was  appointed  to  superintend  all  affairs  connected  with  it 
(Temanza,  op.  cit.  p.  82). 


Pietro  Lorn  bar  do.  215 

nature.  The  ricTi  balustrades  of  the  staircase  leading  to  the 
chapel  of  the  Sanctuary  are  adorned  with  small  half-figures  of 
the  Vircrin,  the  Ansel  of  the  Annunciation,  St.  Francis  and 
Sta.  Chiara,  and  the  pilasters  and  panels  about  it  are  filled 
with  ornaments  inspired  by,  but  not  copied  from,  the  antique. 
The  Palazzo  Vendramin  Calergi,*  the  now  demolished  church 
of  S.  Cristoforo  at  Murano,  the  church  of  S.  Andrea  on  the 
island  of  the  Certosa,  that  of  Sta.  Maria  Mater  Domini,  and 
the  magnificent  chapel  of  the  doge  Cristoforo  Moro  at  San 
Giobbe,  with  the  exquisitely-adorned  portal  of  that  church 
(1471),  are  all  attributed  to  Pietro.  The  last  has  been  seri- 
ously questioned,  but  if  we  accept  him  as  the  sculptor  of  the 
ornamental  work  at  Sta.  Maria  de'  Miracoli  we  find  no  difficulty 
in  believing  him  to  have  previously  sculptured  that  of  San 
Giobbe,t  which  is  equally  excellent  Ptenaissance  work,  though 
in  this  case  we  must  suppose  that  some  other  artist  sculptured 
the  figure-work,  as  it  is  greatly  superior  to  anything  of 
the  kind  in  his  authentic  works.  The  round  arched  portal  of 
San  Giobbe  is  flanked  by  two  Corinthian  pilasters  covered  with 
the  most  delicately-sculptured  convolvulus  plants,  upon  whose 
winding  stems  sit  all  but  living  birds.  Their  capitals  are 
composed  of  acanthus  leaves  and  ox-skulls,  from  whose  horns 
hang  festoons  which  are  twined  about  the  flower-filled  volutes. 
The  cornice  and  archivolt  are  enriched  with  architectural  details 
borrowed  from  the  antique,  statuettes  of  SS.  Francis,  Bernar- 
dino of  Siena,  and  a  bishop  are  placed  above  the  arch  and  at 
the  ends  of  the  entablature,  and  the  lunette  is  filled  with  a 
bas-relief  representing  SS.  "Francesco"  and  "Giobbe"  kneeling 
in  prayer  on  either  side  of  a  little  mount,  upon  which  rays  of 
light  descend  from  heaven.  The  more  we  regard  these  sculp- 
tures the  moi-e  we  are  convinced  that  they  are  the  work  of 
several  hands.  Thus  if  the  arabesques  and  the  statuettes  of 
the  portal  are  by  Pietro  the  bas-relief  can  hardly  be,  and  if 
the  ornaments  in  the  Cappella  Maggiore  and  the  grave-slab  of 

*  Temanza  affirms  that  he  began  it,  and  that  it  was  completed  by 
Jacopo  Sansovino.     Selvatioo  thinks  it  much  more  modern. 

t  The  Cappella  Maggiore  at  San  Giobbe  must  have  been  built  betbro 
1471,  as  in  that  year  the  doge  Cristoforo  Moro  died,  and  not  earlier  than 
1462  as  the  ducal  bonnet  is  introduced  with  his  coatof-arras  (Solvatico, 
p.  234). 


2 1 6     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sadptiire. 

the  doge,  which  is  enframed  in  a  border  of  exquisitely-sculptured 
arabesques  and  bears  the  ducal  arms  in  its  four  corners,  are  his 
work,  some  other  artist  must  have  sculptured  the  Evangelists  in 
the  spandrils  of  the  internal  arches,  and  the  charming  angels 
which  support  them.  Their  unmistakably  Tuscan  air  lends 
strength  to  the  tradition  that  a  Florentine  artist  worked  in  this 
church,  traces  of  whose  hand  are  visible  in  certain  ornaments 
and  mouldings  about  the  Grimani  chapel,  and  in  the  terra- 
cotta Evangelists  upon  its  roof. 

About  1483,  Pietro  went  to  Treviso  to  reconstruct  the  great 
chapel  in  the  Cathedral,  and  to  erect  a  monument  to  Monsignor 
Zanotti,  who  had  left  a  large  bequest  for  these  purposes.  The 
ornamental  marble -work  about  the  latter  would  be  alone  suffi- 
cient to  establish  his  reputation  as  unrivalled  in  his  peculiar 
branch  of  art.  The  sarcophagus,  adorned  with  statuettes,  and 
resting  on  a  projecting  base  supported  upon  consoles,  is  deco- 
rated with  sirens  holding  vases  in  their  hands,  rich  leaf-work, 
and  an  eagle  with  spread  wings,  but  its  most  remarkable  feature 
is  its  exquisitely-sculptured  frieze,  which  looks  as  if  it  had  been 
worked  out  with  a  needle  rather  than  with  a  chisel.  Scarcely 
less  ornate  is  the  tomb  of  the  senator  Onigo  by  Pietro  in  the 
church  of  S.  Nicolo  at  Treviso,  in  which  the  life-size  statue  of 
the  deceased,  between  two  pages  with  shields,  stands  upon  the 
upper  of  two  sarcophagi,  the  lower  one  of  which  rests  upon 
consoles,  and  is  sculptured  with  profile  heads  of  Roman 
Emperors  in  flat-relief  and  with  "  putti "  holding  cornu- 
copia.* In  1499  our  sculptor  left  Treviso  for  Venice,  where 
he  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Eizzo  as  architect  of  the 
Ducal  Palace,  but  although  he  held  this  ofiice  for  the-  remainder 
of  his  life,  he  found  time  to  build  the  Cathedral  at  Cividale  in 
the  Friuliau  district,  and  the  fortifications  of  the  city  of  Treviso. 
He  was  elected  chief  officer  of  the  guild  of  the  Scarpellini  in 
that  city,  and  died  at  Venice  about  1511.  The  bronze 
monument  to  Cardinal  Zeno  at  St.  Mark's  is    said  to  have 

•  A  sculptured  altar  near  the  great  door  of  the  church,  inscribed 
"Franciscus  Bettignolo  ded.  mortuus  est  1491,"  is  probably  by  the  Lom- 
bard!, as  well  as  the  tomb  of  the  apostolic  legate,  Nicolas  Franco 
(elected  a.d.  1501),  in  the  chajiel  of  the  Sacrament  at  the  Duomo.  The 
statuettes  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  upon  the  altar,  and  the  bas-reliefs  of 
the  four  Evangelists  in  roundels  uj^on  the  roof  may  also  be  their  work. 


Pietro  Lovihai'do.  217 

been  made  nncler  his  superintendence,  but  wo  know  by  docu- 
mentary evidence  that  the  artists  who  constructed  it  were 
Paolo  Savii  and  Pier  Zuano  delle  Campane  (a  scholar  of 
Alessandro  Leopardi),  who  in  1515  cast  the  heavy  and  unin- 
teresting statues  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  SS.  John  and 
Peter,  for  the  altar,*  The  monument  of  Cardinal  Zeno  which 
occupies  the  centre  of  the  chapel,  consists  of  a  mortuary  couch 
supported  upon  a  quadrilateral  base  with  six  large  statues  at  its 
corners  and  sides.  Between  them  are  panels  adorned  with 
female  figures  in  relief,  holding  branches  in  their  hands.  The 
bronze  sepulchral  effigy,  which  is  robed  in  a  vestment  carefully 
worked  out  in  raised  patterns,  is  conscientiously  Avrought,  but 
it  wants  that  tender  sentiment  found  in  so  many  mortuary 
figures  of  the  previous  century,  which  never  fails  to  awaken 
our  sympathy.  Pietro  is  said  to  have  assisted  his  sons  in 
making  the  monument  of  the  doge  Pietro  Mocenigo  at  San 
Giovanni  e  Paolo,  but  we  suspect  that  he  did  little  more  than 
furnish  its  general  design,  as  neither  in  style  nor  conception 
does  it  resemble  his  other  tombs,  which  are  richly  ornamented 
and  never  allegorical  like  this  with  its  statuettes  of  Roman 
warriors  and  its  bas-reliefs  of  the  Labours  of  Hercules,  in 
allusion  to  the  military  prowess  of  this  gallant  doge,  who  was 
famed  for  his  victories  over  the  Turks.  Furthermore,  the 
arabesque-work  upon  its  side-pilasters  and  archivolt  is  not 
comparable  to  that  upon  Pietro's  Trevisan  monuments.  In 
figure-work  he  was  out  of  his  element,  and  he  rarely  at- 
tempted it.  The  only  statuettes  at  Venice  attributed  to  him 
are  those  upon  the  balustrade  of  Sta.  Maria  dei  Miracoli,  and 
those  of  SS.  Anthony,  John,  and  Jerome,  at  San  Stefano. 
Where  his  design  demanded  their  introduction,  as  in  the 
monuments  at  Treviso,  he  entrusted  them  to  his  sons  Tullio 
and  Antonio,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  in  another  chapter. 

*  The  commission  for  this  work  was  first  given  to  Leopardi  and 
Antonio  Lombardo,  who  soon  quarrelled.  Leopardi  was  then  dis- 
missed, and  Zuane  di  Alberghetto,  with  Pier  Zuane  delle  Campane,  were 
appointed  to  assist  Antonio.  As  matters  still  went  ill,  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  work  was  given  to  Pietro  Lombardo,  who  agreed  to  design 
the  figures  which  Zuane  delle  Campane  was  commissioned  to  cast  in 
bronze  (Selvatico,  op-  ci^  p.  190). 


2i8     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctilptiire. 


Verona. 

Althongli  no  other  Italian  city  can  boast  sn.oh  a  number 
of  pre-Revival  sculptors  as  Verona,  they  developed  no  school 
from  their  rude  beginnings.  Not  one  Veronese  sculptor  of  the 
thirteenth  century  is  known  to  us,*  and  when  in  the  fourteenth 
the  lords  of  Verona  wished  to  adorn  their  family  burial-place 
with  those  superb  Gothic  tombs  which  make  it  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  interesting  cemeteries  in  Italy,  they  were  obliged 
to  send  to  Milan  for  Perrino  and  Bonino  da  Campione,  who 
perhaps  designed  the  tombs  of  Sant'  Agata  in  the  Cathedral 
(1380),  of  a  knight  and  of  a  member  of  the  Pellegrini  family 
at  Sant'  Anastasia,  and  of  Giovanni  Scaliger  at  San  Fermo. — 
The  one  native  sculptor  of  the  fourteenth  century  of  whom  we 
have  cognizance  is  Giovanni  di  Bigino  (fl.  1392),  who  made  a 
statue  of  St.  Proculus  for  a  monument  at  San  Fermo.  In  the 
fifteenth  Verona  produced  a  great  plastic  artist — the  painter  and 
medallist  Victor  Pisano,  called  II  Pisanello  (1380-1447),  but 
although  the  profile  heads  and  groups  of  mounted  cavaliers 
upon  his  medals  are  miracles  of  sculpture  in  little,  we  can 
scarcely  class  him  as  a  sculptor  ;f  and  it  is  certain  that  no  trace 
of  his  plastic  inlluence  is  perceptible  in  such  monuments  of  his 

*  There  is  a  little  seated  Virgin  with  an  apple  in  her  hand,  rude  in  style, 
and  apparently  sculptured  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
in  a  court  behind  the  church  of  S.  Giovanni  in  Fonte.  It  has  an  inscrip- 
tion in  Gothic  letters  to  this  effect : 

"  Magister  Pulia  me  fecit.     Orate  pro  eo." 

f  Tommasini,  Yita  di L.  Pigneria,  Amsterdam,  1669,  says:  "Eminent 
Pisani  pictoris  et  statuarli  maxima  toreumata  quoB  vocamus  Italice 
meuaglioni;  "  and  Mons.  Giovio,  Letter  to  Duke  Cosimo,  November  12, 
1551,  published  in  Bottari,  Lett.  Pitt.  v.  82  (ed.  Milano,  1822),  says  that 
Pisanello  was  "  prestantissimo  nell'  opera  cle'  hassirilievi  ;  "  but  in  the 
context  his  meaning  is  clear: — "  E  percio  si  veggono  di  sua  mano  molte 
lodate  medaglie  di  gran  principi,"  &c.  &c.  So  also  Facio,  De  Viris  Illus- 
trihus,  says:  "Picturos  adjecit  fingendi  artem.  Ejus  opera  in  plumbo 
atque  asre  sunt  Alphonsus,"  Sec,  &c.  Tito  Strozzi  in  his  Elegia  (Maffei 
vol.  iv.  ch.  vi.  p.  208)  says  he  surpassed  Lysippius  and  Phidias,  but  this 
is  a  "  fa9on  de  parler "  common  at  the  time.  Pernasconi,  Studii,  &c. 
(Verona,  1859),  at  pp.  5,  6,  shows  that  he  must  have  died  before  1455, 
and  was  probably  born  about  1380.  Vasari  does  not  give  the  date  of  his 
death,  but  he  says  he  was  "  assai  ben  vecchio."  About  the  bas-reliefs  at 
Himini  see  p.  126. 


Viceiiza  and  Padua.  219 

native  city  as  the  tomb  of  the  Cavalier  Cortesia  Sarcgo  (d.  1432) 
in  the  choir  of  Sant'  Aiiastasia,  evidently  designed  under 
Venetian  influence,  or  the  terra-cotta  bas-reliefs  from  the  life 
of  Our  Lord  upon  the  walls  of  the  Pellegrini  chapel  (whose 
inordinately  long  figures  and  clinging  draperies  are  born  of 
the  schools  of  the  Manlegazza  and  Omodeo)  or  the  simply 
draped,  Campionesi-like  saints  in  niches  upon  the  pilasters  of  a 
chapel  in  the  left  aisle  of  the  same  church. 


ViCENZA. 

This  city  of  Palladio  never  had  a  school  of  sculpture,  and 
her  only  sculptor,  Girolamo  Pironi,  who  flourished  in  the  first 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is  not  represented  at  home.  The 
vines,  birds,  snakes,  snails,  leaves,  and  bunches  of  grapes  very 
beautifully  carved  upon  a  pilaster  in  the  Cappella  del  Santo  at 
San  Antonio*  at  Padua  by  this  able  artist,  prove  his  great  skill  in 
dealing  with  ornament.  The  little  quattro-cento  sculpture  at 
Vicenza  is  either  Venetian  or  Milanese.  To  the  first  school 
belongs  a  well-draped  Virgin  and  Child  with  saints  under  a 
canopy  over  an  altar  to  the  left  in  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo, 
signed  ''  Magister  Antonianus  de  Veneciis,"  and  to  the  second 
an  energetic  and  Mantegnesque  half  figure  of  the  dead  Christ 
supported  by  angels  crying  aloud  with  open  mouths,  over  an 
altar  to  the  right  in  the  same  church. 


Padua. 

Paduan  sculpture  of  the  fourteenth  century  is  represented 
by  a  number  of  sarcophagi  and  Gothic  tombs  at  San  Antonio, 
which  diff"er  from  those  of  the  same  time  at  Venice  in  the 
absence  of  curtain-drawing  angels  and  statuettes  of  the  Virtues. 

The  oldest  sarcophagus  is  that  of  Piolando  da  Piazzola 
(d.  1310),  through  whose  influence  Padua  was  for  a  time  saved 
from   falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Veronese,  and  Jacopo  da 

*  Signed  Hie.  P.  faciebat;  date   uncertain.     Gonzati,  op.  cit.  voL  i 
p.  16'J,  note  3. 


2  20     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

Carvara  elevated  to  power  as  Lord  of  the  city.  The  next  oldest 
in  date  is  that  behind  the  altar  of  the  chapel  of  S.  Felice,  which 
contains  the  remains  of  Bartolomea  degli  Scrovegui,  who  was 
poisoned  by  her  husband  Masilio  da  Carrara  (1333),  shortly 
after  their  marriage.  The  relief  upon  the  front  of  the  sarco- 
phagus represents  the  Madonna  and  Child  seated  on  a  throne- 
chair,  which  is  borne  up  bs^  two  awkwardly  posed  angels.  The 
sarcophagus  of  the  Rogati,  an  ancient  Paduan  family,  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Madonna  Mora  which  was  sculptured  about  1340, 
is  decorated  with  reliefs  of  a  man  on  horseback  dressed  in  a 
long  robe,  with  a  cap  on  his  head,  and  with  a  group  of  Christ 
enthroned  and  supported  by  angels.  In  the  cloister  of  the 
Capitolo  there  are  several  tombs  worthy  of  notice,  puch  as  that 
of  Rainerio  degli  Assendi  (d.  1358),  a  sarcophagus  with  a 
heavy  foliated  cornice,  spiral  columns,  corner  niches  surmounted 
by  projecting  canopies,  and  a  rude  relief  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child  ;  also  the  sepulchral  effigy  of  the  learned  Bettina  di  San 
Georgio  (d.  1355),  who  professed  ecclesiastical  jurisprudence 
in  the  Paduan  University.  The  passage  way  leading  from  this 
cloister  to  that  of  the  Noviziati  contains  the  tomb  of  Manno 
Donato,  whose  effigy,  clad  in  armour,  lies  under  a  Gothic  gable. 
He  was  a  Florentine  Guelph  who  fought  under  Francesco 
da  Carrara,  and  died  at  Padua  in  1375.  Lastly,  we  may  men- 
tion a  tomb  in  the  portico  of  the  southern  door  of  San  Antonio, 
erected  to  the  memory  of  the  Brescian  condottiore  Federigo 
di  Lavalongo  (d.  1374)  who  fought  for  Padua  under  Manno 
Donato  and  is  represented  with  the  various  costumes  belong- 
ing to  the  offices  which  he  filled  in  his  lifetime,  in  the  six 
compartments  upon  the  front  of  the  sarcophagus,  as  also  in  a 
fresco  at  the  back  of  the  canopied  recess  which  shelters  it.  In 
the  fifteenth  century  Padua  produced  but  one  eminent  sculptor 
and  bronze  caster,  Bartolomeo  Bellano,  of  whom,  as  the  pupil 
of  Donatello,  we  have  spoken  in  a  former  chapter.  The  career 
of  his  illustrious  pupil,  Andrea  Riccio,  belongs  to  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  will  be  narrated  in  its  proper  place. 


Mantua.  221 

Mantua, 

About  tlie  middle  of  the  fourteentli  century  the  church  of 
Sant'  Antonio  was  rebuilt  by  the  merchants  of  Mantua,  and 
Guido  Gonzaga,  Imperial  vicar  and  captain  of  the  people,*  per- 
petuated the  remembrance  of  their  generosity  by  a  bas-relief 
which  represents  him  in  the  act  of  presenting  the  "  Massaro  "  or 
chief  of  their  guild  to  the  Madonna  and  the  Infant  Saviour,  who, 
standing  upon  her  knee,  gives  them  his  benediction.  The 
outlines  of  the  figures  are  hard,  their  faces  are  without  expres- 
sion, and  their  gradation  in  size  according  to  rank,  from  the 
Madonna  down  to  the  pigmy  "  Massaro"  kneeling  at  her  feet, 
is  singular  in  its  effect.  The  contemporary  sarcophagus  of 
Bishop  RufFmi  dei  Landi  in  the  Museo  Patrio  is  second-rate 
both  in  style  and  execution,  as  is  the  statue  of  the  Archangel 
Michael  above  the  entrance  to  a  chapel  in  the  Cathedral  belong- 
ing to  the  same  time,  which  has  quite  lost  its  character  through 
injudicious  restoration.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  the  Milanese  sculptor  Jacopino  da  Tradate  was  invited 
to  Mantua  by  the  duke  Giovanni  Francesco  Gonzaga,  as  were 
the  eminent  architects  Leon  Battista  Alberti,  Luca  Fancellif 
and  Andrea  Mantegna,  by  his  son  Lodovico,  who  gave  the  latter 
a  salary'  of  seventy-five  lire  a  month,  and  a  piece  of  land 
near  the  church  of  San  Sebastiano  upon  w^hich  he  built  him- 
self a  house.  Though  Mantua  disputes  with  Padua  the  honour 
of  having  given  Mantegna  birth,  |  she  undoubtedly  gave  him 
burial,  in  a  chapel  dedicated  to  San  Giovanni,  which  he  had 
himself  built  and  endowed  in  the  church  of  Sant'  Andrea. 
The  bronze  bust  of  the  great  painter,  which  is  set  above  the  grave 
slab  in  a  richly-adorned  roundel,  is  a  masterpiece  of  portraiture. 
The  face  is  grave,  earnest  and  searching,  the  modelling  bold, 
vigorous  and  true  to  nature,  and  the  treatment  of  the   hair, 

*  In  1348  Luigi  Gonzaga  having  killed  Bonacolsi  under  pretence  of 
saving  the  country  from  a  tyrant,  was  elected  captain  of  the  people,  and 
m  1349  obtained  from  the  Emperor  Charles  IT.  the  title  of  Imperial 
Vicar.     Guido  who  succeeded  him  became  a  sovereign  "  de  faclo." 

t  Sec  Appendix,  letter  P. 

J  Vide  Testimonianza  int.  alia  -patria  di  Andrea  Mantegna,  by  P. 
Brandolesi,  Podova,  1805;  and  Notizie,  by  the  Abbate  Gennasi;  Vasari, 
vol.  V.  p.  158,  says,  "  nacque  nel  contado  di  Mantova."  In  ncto  1  to  this 
passage  his  commentators  give  their  reasons  for  believing  that  although 
he  wrote  Mantua,  he  intended  to  write  Padua. 


2  2  2     Histo7'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  SciUptnre. 

which  falls  in  long  curling  locks  on  either  side  of  the  laurel- 
wreathed  head,  most  masterly.  This  bust  has  been  attributed 
to  Mantegna  himself,  who  is  mentioned  by  several  authors  as 
being  not  only  painter  and  engraver,  but  also  sculptor  and 
bronze-caster,*  but  as  he  did  not  mention  it  in  his  will,-]-  in 
which  directions  are  given  about  his  tomb,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  it  was  cast  after  his  death  by  order  of  the  Duke 
Lodovico,  and  that  it  was  modelled  by  the  famous  medallist 
Sperandio  Maglioli.j 

Whether  Mantegna  the  painter,  Alberti  the  architect,§  oi 
Sperandio  the  medallist  ever  worked  as  sculptors  is  uncertain, 
but  their  influence  is  manifest  in  several  anonymous  marbles  at 
Mantua,  sculptured  during  the  best  period  of  the  quattro-cento. 
Among  them  is  a  marble  slab  in  the  Museo  Patrio,  adorned 
with  the  Gonzaga  arms  surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  oak  and 
olive  leaves  supported  by  flying  genii,  and  with  profile  heads  of 
the  Marquis  Lodovico  and  his  wife  Barbara  of  Brandenburg, 
and  of  his  son  Federigo  with  his  wife  Margaret  of  Bavaria. 
The  word  "  Amumoc  "  (supposed  to  stand  for  the  Greek  a/iw/ioy, 
immaculate)  inscribed  upon  a  portion  of  her  head-dress,  and 
sculptured  with  the  dog  and  the  mountain  crest  upon  the  door- 
posts and  richly-adorned  chimney-piece  of  the  Palazzo  Mar- 
chionale  di  Revere,  where  Federigo  and  Margaret  resided  in 
14G4  when  the  pest  broke  out  at  Mantua,  was  adopted  as  a 
device  by  Federigo  after  his  marriage,  to  testify  his  disbelief  in 
the  reports  circulated  against  the  Princess  after  her  arrival  in 
Mantua  in  hopes  of  preventing  his  union  with  a  foreigner.    The 

*  "  Oltre  la  pittura  e  1'  incisione  trattava  la  plastica  e  fondava  in 
bronzo  "  (Selvatico,  p.  180,  tiota  1 ;  G.  B.  Spagnuoli,  lib.  i.  Be  Syhis,  fol. 
clxvi.  Parlsils,  1513). 

f  Mantegna's  will  dated  Marcli  1,  1504,  published  by  Moschini, 
Vicende,  &c.  p.  50  (Gaye,  Garteggio,  iii.  365;  see  also  Conte  Carlo 
d'  Arco,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  50,  no.  63). 

X  According  to  the  Mantuan  chronicler  Amadei,  the  marquis  caused  a 
bronze  bust,  with  the  head  encircled  by  a  laurel  wreath  and  with  two 
diamonds  set  in  the  pupils  of  the  eye?,,  to  be  set  up  at  Sant'  Andrea  in 
honour  of  Mantegna  (Conte  d'Arco,  of.  cit.  i.  73). 

§  M.  Dreyfus  of  Paris  has  among  his  Renaissance  bronzes  and  marbles 
a  bronze  plaque  of  large  size,  from  the  Timbal  collection,  with  a  profile 
head  upon  it,  modelled  in  the  masterly  style  of  the  period.  It  is  signed 
L.  B.  A.  P.,  and  is  probably  a  portrait  of  Alberti  by  himself.  A  dupli- 
cate at  the  Louvre  has  neither  inscription  nor  emblem. 


Mantua.  223 

winged  genii  sustaining  a  wreathed  coat-of-avms  upon  the  outer 
loggia  of  San  Sehastiano  have  been  attributed  to  Leon  Battista 
Alberti  who  built  the  church. 

Other  excellent  works  of  the  time  are  the  terra-cotta  busts  of 
Francesco  Gonzaga  and  the  poet  Teofilo  Folengo  in  the  Public 
Library,  and  those  of  A^irgil,  Battista  Spagnuoli,  and  Francesco 
Gonzaga  in  the  Museo  Patrto,  but  as  none  of  them  arc  signed, 
and  we  know  the  Mantuan  sculptors  of  the  fifteenth  century 
only  by  name,  it  is  impossible  to  identify  them.  Among  them 
wei'e  Guido  Gonzaga  di  Aloisio,  a  priest,  who  modelled  and 
cast  a  very  ornate  bell  for  the  church  of  Sant'  Andrea  (1444),* 
Gabriele  dei  Frisonif  who  worked  principally  at  Ferrara  with 
the  Mantuan  goldsmiths  and  sculptors  Albertino  and  Giacomo 
Ruscoui,  sons  of  a  certain  Giovanni,  a  citizen  of  Ferrara  ;t  and 
Cristoforus  and  Lysippus,  uncle  and  nephew,  who  made  medal- 
lion portraits  of  Popes  Paul  II.  and  Sixtus  IV. §  Antonio  and 
Paolo  Mola,  of  Mantua,  sons  of  a  sculptor  named  Yincenzo, 
were  noted  for  their  skill  in  ornamental  sculpture  and  intarsia 
at  Venice,  where  they  executed  some  highly-praised  intarsia  work 
for  the  sacristy  of  St.  Mark's  (1485),  and  at  Mantua,  where 
they  decorated  the  doors  of  the  Carmine  Church,  St.  Andrea, 
and  San  Lorenzo  (1492).  ||  Their  contemj)orary,  the  sculptor 
Piero  Giacomo  Illario,  is  only  known  to  us  by  a  letter  signed 
"  I'Antiquo"  (1497),  which  he  addressed  to  the  Marquis  Fran- 
cesco Gonzaga  from  Piorne,  to  thank  him  for  an  introduction 
to  Monsignor  Lodovico  Agnelli  "  gloria  e  splendore  del  nome 
latino."^  The  few  Mantuan  sculptors  known  after  his  day 
were  ornamentalists  in  marble  or  stucco. 

*  It  was  pierced  with  eiglit  apertures  large  enough  to  allow  a  man  to 
pass  through  them;  adorned  with  various  well-understood  ornaments 
and  figures  of  Atlas,  Hercules,  Pallas  and  Adam. 

■f-  Perhaps  a  descendant  of  Marco  da  Campione  whose  family  name 
was  Frixonus  or  dei  Frisoni. 

J  They  assisted  Meo  di  Checco  at  Ferrara  and  Bologna.  Cicognara, 
i.  247;  Conte  d'  Arco,  p.  37:  and  Cittadella,  op.  cit.  pp.  49,  95,  98-100, 
who  gives  various  records  of  payments  to  the  brothers  for  work  at 
Ferrara, 

§  The  women  of  this  family  were  also  skilled  in  the  plastic  arts 
(vide  H  Volterrano  Comm.  Urb.  p.  1506,  ed.  Rom.). 

II  Doc.  no.  151,  order  for  payment,  February  2'2.  1532  ;  no,  178,  and 
vol.  ii.  p.  27-t,  Conte  d'Arco. 

^  He  was  governor  of  Perugia,  papal  vice-legate,  made  Archbishop  of 


224     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scjtlpttire, 


Bkescia. 

No  Brescian  sculptors  are  known  to  us  before  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  when  we  meet  with  two,  namely,  Giacomo 
FilliiJpo  Conforti,  who  made  the  tomb  of  Giovanni  Buccelano, 
Bishop  of  Groppoli  (14G8),  and  Anzolino,  author  of  a  terra- 
cotta "  ancona  "  formerly  in  the  church  of  the  Eremitani  at 
Milan,*  who  is  probably  identical  with  the  Antonio  "  taja- 
preda,"  who  assisted  Antonio  da  Mortegno  in  sculpturing  the 
monuments  of  Francesco  Rangoni  for  the  church  of  San 
Agostino  at  Parma,  and  that  of  his  wife  Lucia  Rusca  for  the 
church  of  San  Francesco  at  Mantua.  | 


Bologna. 

Giovanni  Bindo,  detto  delle  Massegne  (1305),  Bittino,  who 
made  a  monument  at  Imola  (1348),  and  Sibilius  Guarnieri  da 
Capravia  (1352),  all  flourished  at  Bologna  during  the  first  half 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  latter  artist  sculptured  the  sar- 
cophagus of  Manfredo  Pio  in  the  Oratorio  della  Sagra  at  Carpi, 
with  reliefs  which  represent  him  kneeling  between  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  Catherine,  the  Madonna  and  Child  with  angels, 
St.  George,  with  St.  Margaret,  who  holds  the  dragon  in  leash, 
Christ  and  the  two  Marys,  and  a  knight  leaping  his  horse 
over  a  river.  The  style  of  these  sculptures  is  dryer  than  that  of 
the  Pisan  school,  and  the  outlines  are  clearer  and  more  sharply 
cut  out.  Jacopo  detto  Ptosetto,  Parto  da  Bologna,  Fra  Michele 
Carmelitano  (1390),  Giovanni  d'  Enricuccio,  and  Jacopino  d' 
Antonio,  who  assisted  Ghiberti  in  casting  the  gates  of  the  bap- 
tistry at  Florence,  lived  at  Bologna  during  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth and  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  centuries,  while  Bologna  il 
Vecchio,  Bartolomeo,  Giovanni  degli  Accnrri  (1450),  Anchise, 
Giovanni  Francesco  (1485)  and  the  two  Baroni  (1490),  who  are 

Cosenza  by  Alexander  II.  a.d.  1497,  and  papal  nnncio  by  Sixtus  V. 
(Conte  d'Arco,  o^.  cit.  ii,  40),  died  of  the  pest  or  poisoned  by  Cassar 
Borgia  at  Viterbo  in  1499.  Vide  Gaye,  Cartcggio,  vol.  i  p.  338,  no.  166 ; 
also  d'Arco,  vol.  ii.  p.  40,  letter  no.  50. 

*  Ricci,  op.  cit.  ii.  405. 

f  Campori,  op.  cit.  p.  325. 


Ferrara.  225 

praised  by  a  contemporary  poet  as  "  clc'  rari  al  mondo," 
flourislied  there  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
were  probably  little  better  than  stone  cutters. 


Ferraka. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century  we  find  mention 
of  an  Antonio  da  Ferrara,  who  is  supposed  to  have  sculptured  a 
crucifix  in  the  Cathedral  over  an  altar  near  the  chapel  of  St. 
George,  and  of  Giovanni,  and  Camino  or  Comino,  both  of  whom 
were  put  to  death  for  their  share  in  the  conspiracy  organised 
by  the  citizens  (1385)  against  their  podesta,  Tommaso  da  Tor- 
tona,  who  had  rendered  himself  extremely  obnoxious  by  induc- 
ing the  Marquis  Nicolo  (detto  lo  Zoppo)  to  impose  new  and 
unjust  taxes  upon  them. 

An  interesting  statue  of  the  Marquis  Alberto  d'  Este,  who 
succeeded  the  Marquis  Nicolo,  fills  a  niche  of  the  fagade  of 
the  Cathedral  to  the  right  of  the  great  portal.  The  stiff 
ungainly  figure  is  dressed  in  the  habit  of  a  pilgrim,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  marquis's  journey  to  Eome  in  the  jubilee  year 
of  1391,  when  Pope  Boniface  IX.  conceded  plenary  indulgences 
to  all  who  should  then  visit  the  shrines  of  the  apostles.  His 
suite  consisted  of  four  hundred  persons,  all  like  himself  in  peni- 
tential habits,  and  a  guard  of  soldiers  bearing  black  lances, 
banners,  and  pennons.  Having  been  presented  by  the  pope  with 
the  golden  rose,  and  authorised  to  open  a  university  of  arts  and 
sciences  in  his  capital,  he  returned  home  amid  great  rejoicings, 
and  was  honoured  by  the  statue  above  referred  to." 

More  than  half  a  century  later  great  preparations  were 
made  at  Ferrara  for  the  fitting  reception  of  the  Princess 
Eleonora  of  Aragon,  daughter  of  King  Ferdinand  of  Naples,  and 
bride  of  Duke  Hercules  I.  An  innumerable  crowd  of  people, 
singing,  playing,  and  dancing,  went  out  to  meet  her  on  her 
approach,  and  escorted  her  into  Ferrara,  where  the  pavements 
were  covered  with  rich  carpets,  and  the  houses  decorated  with 
superb  tapestries  and  green  boughs.     Dressed  in  a  suit  of  cloth 

*  Memorie  pei-  la  Storia  cli  Ferrara,  raccolte  da  Antonio  Frizzi,  Ferrara, 
1791,  ii.  344  See  also  Gio.  Battista  Pigua,  Historia  de  Principi  d'  Este 
(Ferrara,  1580),  lib.  v.  pp.  324-7 ;  and  the  work  entitled  Delle  Antichita 
Estensi  ed  Italiane,  pt.  ii.  ch.  vi.  p.  158;  and  Ciltadella,  op.  cit.  p.  415. 

Q 


2  26     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptu7^e. 

of  gold  cut  after  the  Neapolitan  fashion,  wearing  a  crown  of  gold 
adorned  with  pearls  upon  her  head,  and  many  jewels  upon  her 
person,  the  fair  bride  rode  to  meet  her  future  lord  upon  a  noble 
steed,  and  then  dismounting,  proceeded  to  the  palace  under  a 
baldacchino  made  of  cloth  of  gold,  and  on  the  following  day  the 
marriage  ceremony  took  place  in  the  Cathedral,  when  the  event 
was  celebrated  by  tournaments,  games  and  splendid  banquets.* 
Lodovico  Castellani  who  decorated  the  royal  carriages  with 
ornaments  is  identified  with  the  sculptor  and  worker  in  terra- 
cotta who  made  (1458)  a  "  mortorio "  or  group  of  the  dead 
Christ,  with  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  the  Marys  and  St.  John,  for 
the  Cathedral  at  Ferrara,  whence  it  was  removed  to  the  choir  of 
the  church  of  S.  Antonio  Abbate  in  Polesine.  The  figures,  of 
life-size,  painted  and  robed  in  coloured  draperies  are  conceived 
in  the  exaggerated  style  of  the  many  groups  of  the  same  subject 
by  Guido  Mazzoni  of  Modena.f 


MODENA. 

Giovanni  Guerra  da  Modena,  j  who  assisted  in  carving  orna- 
ments about  the  pilasters  of  the  choir  parapet  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Milan,  about  1400,  is  the  first  Modenese  sculptor  of  repute,  and 
the  next  is  Guido  Mazzoni,  called  II  Modanino  from  his  birth- 
place, and  II  Paganino  after  his  grandfather.  ^  This  artist,  who 
flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  should 
rather  be  called  a  "  plasticatore  "  than  a  sculptor,  as  he  worked 
altogether  in  clay.  His  works  are  vulgar  in  type,  intensely 
realistic,  exaggerated  in  expression,  and  monotonous  through 
their  unvarying  repetition  of  the  same  subject,  but  they  are  full 
of  earnest  feeling  and  true  to  nature  of  a  homely  type.  When 
we  have  seen  one  of  his  groups  we  have  seen  them  all,   and 

*  Frizzi,  op.  cit.  iv.  84. 

t  This  group  is  in  the  Clausura  delle  Monache  and  cannot  be  seen 
without  special  licence  from  the  archbishop. 

X  Ricci,  ii.  386. 

§  His  great-grandfather  Guido  il  Vecchio  came  from  a  castle  in  the 
mountains  of  Modena  called  Montecuccolo.  His  father's  name  was 
Antotiio  (vide  Le  Opere  di  G.  Mazzoni  e  di  Antonio  BcgarelU,  dis.  ed 
incise  da  Gnlzzardi  e  Tomba  Bolognesi,  Modena,  1823;  Tiraboschi. 
Bib.  Mod.  vol.  vi.  pt.  ii.  p.  4S7 ;  and  Vedriani,  Eaccolle  de'  Pittori  e  Scul' 
tori  Modonesi,  p.  26  ;  also  Vasari,  iv.  6). 


Gtiido  ATazzoni.  227 

know  his  capabilities  and  limitations.  In  the  "  mortorio  "  of 
the  church  of  San  Giovanni  Decollato  at  Modena,  the  dead 
body  of  our  Lord  lies  upon  the  ground,  while  the  Madonna, 
a  weeping  old  woman  kneeling  on  one  knee  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  behind  the  body  of  her  son,  is  supported  by  the  beloved 
disciple  and  by  the  Magdalen,  who  leaning  forward  with 
dishevelled  hair  and  distorted  features  screams  in  an  agony 
of  grief.  St.  Joseph  sits  at  the  head  of  the  body  stretching 
out  his  hands  towards  it,  and  several  of  the  disciples  aro 
grouped  around.*  The  startling  effect  of  these  coloured  life- 
size  figures,  robed  in  heavy  but  carefully-arranged  draperies, 
and  modelle!^  with  no  small  skill,  can  hardly  be  imagined.  This 
"mortorio  "  diife?s  very  little  from  those  by  the  same  artist  at 
Santa  Maria  della  Rosa  at  Ferraraf  and  at  Monte  Oliveto  at 
Naples,  made  for  King  Alphonso  II.  of  Aragon-in  1490. | 
Mazzoni's  group  of  the  Nativity  in  the  crypt  of  the  Cathedral 
at  Modena  is  of  little  interest,^  as  the  subject  allowed  him  no 
0|)portunity  for  dramatic  display,  but  some  of  the  heads  are 
extremely  living  in  their  expression.  ||  We  have  no  other  record 
of  the  now-destroyed  "  mortorio  "  which  he  made  (1487)  for  the 
monastery  of  Sant'  Antonio  Abbate  at  Venice  than  that  furnished 
by  the  contract,  which  is  curious  for  the  stipulation  made  by 
the  artist,  that  in  consideration   of  his  having  relinquished  to 

*  This  mortorio  was  originally  in  the  Cappella  della  Confraternita  of 
the  hospital  of  San  Giovanni  della  Morte,  then  in  the  public  prison.  It 
was  repaired  and  repainted  by  M.  Francesco  di  Bianco  Frare. 

f  This  group  is  often  attributed  to  Alfonso  Cittadella  II  Ferrarese,  but 
to  our  eyes  it  is  unmistakably  by  Guido  Mazzoni. 

X  It  loses  much  of  its  effect  by  being  coloured  to  resemble  bronze.  It 
is  however  interesting  historically  if  some  of  the  figures  are  portraits — 
the  St.  John  of  King  Alfonso;  the  St.  Joseph  of  Sannazzaro  the  poet; 
the  Nicodemus  of  Gioviano  Pontano ;  and  one  of  the  other  figures  of  the 
king's  son  Ferrandino  {Giiida  degli  Sciemiati,  i.  387-390 ;  Celano, 
Notizie  di  Napoli,  ii.  30). 

§  Belonged  to  thePorrini  family  at  Modena.  According  to  the  Cronaca 
Malegazzi  they  refused  to  part  with  it  for  500  golden  scudi.  It  was  long 
in  the  Palazzo  Livezzani  (see  Yedriani,  op.  cit.  pp.  31-2).  The  second 
shepherd  to  the  right  and  the  head  of  the  first  to  the  left  are  by  an 
unknown  sculptor.  A  sculptor  named  Righi  made  the  sheep  and 
shepherd  in  the  background  about  1527. 

II  Estratto  dal  Catastico  di  Costello  in  Venezia  (Cicogna,  Isc.  Van. 
i,  360;  and  Sansovino,  Venezia  JDescritta,  p.  32).  The  monastery  and 
the  group  have  both  been  destroyed. 

Q  2 


228     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

the  monastery  a  part  of  the  money  promised  him  in  payment, 
his  name  and  his  coat-of-arms  should  he  placed  upon  it,  and 
mention  of  his  gift  made  in  the  inscription.  King  Charles  VIII., 
whom  he  accompanied  to  France  after  the  conquest  of  Naples 
(1495),  made  him  a  knight  and  allowed  him  to  enrich  his  coat- 
of-arms  with  the  royal  fleur-de-lys.  The  royal  tomb  at  St. 
Denis  which  he  designed  in  1498,  was  of  black  marble,  with 
ornaments  and  figures  in  gilded  bronze.*  Its  four  sides  were 
adorned  with  niches  containing  statuettes  of  the  Virtues,  divided 
from  each  other  by  flat  spaces  decorated  with  swords  wreathed 
with  laurel  in  memory  of  the  royal  conquests,  and  upon  the 
top  the  effigy  of  the  king  was  placed  kneeling  before  a  prie-dieu, 
with  four  angels  bearing  shields  engraved  with  the  arms  of 
France  and  Jerusalem. f  Whether  Mazzoni  modified  his  style 
in  dealing  with  a  subject  so  foreign  to  his  habits,  and  also  in  the 
many  other  works  which  he  is  said  to  have  executed  during  a 
residence  of  more  than  twenty  years  in  France,  we  cannot 
judge,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  was  well  paid  for  his  work  there, 
as  he  returned  to  Modena,  in  1516,  a  rich  man,  and  purchased 
many  houses  and  much  land  before  his  death,  which  took 
place  two  3'ears  later,  j  His  first  wife  Pellegrina  Discalzi,^ 
and  his  daughter  both  accompanied  him  to  France,  and 
assisted  him  in  his  labours,  proving  by  their  skill  in  sculpture 
the  truth  of  Ariosto's  lines  ; 

Le  donne  son  venule  in  eccellenza 
Di  ciascun'  arte  ov'  hanno  posto  cura. 


Parma. 

During  the  fourteenth  century  there  seems  to  have  been  a 
dearth  of  sculptors  at  Parma,  for  Aldighiero  della  Senazza  was 

*  Histoire  de  VAhhaye  Royale  de  St.  JDenis,  par  Felibien,  p.  559.  A 
email  outline  of  the  tomb  is  given  at  p.  550  of  this  work. 

f  The  brass-gilt  plate  on  the  pillar  nearest  to  the  monument  was 
inscribed  with  two  epitaphs  and  the  words  "Vixit  annos  28.  Obiit 
anno  a  Natali  Domini  1498.     Opus  Paganiui  Mantoviensis." 

X  The  Cronaca  Belleardi  MS.  says  he  returned  to  Modena  June  19, 
1516  (see  Tiraboschi,  Bih.  Mod.  i.  192).     He  died  Sept.  12,  1518. 

§  Vasavi,  vol.  iv.  p.  6.  nota  1.  Yedriani,  ojj.  cit.  p.  33,  says  that 
Isabella  Discalzi,  Mazzoni's  second  wife,  was  the  sculptress,  and  not 
Pellegrina. 


Parma»  229 

obliged  to  call  an  artist  named  Jacopo  from  Pistoja  to  work 
for  him,  and  shortly  after,  a  certain  Francesco  Frigeri  who 
wished  to  decorate  the  sepulchre  of  his  family  in  the  Cathedral, 
sent  to  Cremona  to  purchase  a  poorly-sculptured  "  mortorio  " 
of  wood.  No  authentic  works  of  this  period  exist,  save  the  rude 
and  much  injured  monument  erected  to  Guido  Pallavicino 
(d.  1301)  in  the  Abbey  of  Fontevivo,  the  tomb  of  Ugolotti 
Lupi  (d.  1351)  in  the  oratory  of  Casa  Melilupi  at  Saragna, 
which  was  sculptured  by  a  second-rate  artist  with  coats-of-arms 
and  figures,  and  a  sarcophagus  under  the  porch  of  the  church  of 
San  Vitale  e  Agricola  at  Bologna,  which  was  made  by  Maestro 
Eosa  da  Parma,  and  used  as  the  burial-place  of  Mondino  de' 
Liucci  (d.  1318),  a  celebrated  anatomist.  It  is  adorned  with  a 
bas-relief  representing  the  Professor  expounding  a  book  which 
lies  before  him,  to  six  disciples  dressed  in  long  gowns,  and 
with  round  caps  upon  their  heads,  who  seated  at  low  reading- 
desks,  listen  or  follow  the  text  in  the  books  which  they  hold  in 
their  hands.  Their  attitudes  are  agreeably  varied,  and  the 
expression  of  attention  in  their  faces  is  well  rendered. 

Civil  discords  and  the  tyrannical  rule  of  the  Visconti 
paralysed  the  arts  at  Parma  during  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  the  same  political  conditions  weighed  upon  them  during 
much  of  the  fifteenth,  which  produced  some  few  architects  but 
no  sculptors  of  repute.  The  only  existing  monuments  of  this 
latter  period  are  the  rude  bas-reliefs  upon  the  sarcophagus  of 
Biagio  Palacani  on  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral  (1416),  the  sepul- 
chral slabs  of  Giovanni  Lalatta  and  his  wife  (1-121),  and  those  of 
Giovanni  degli  Ardemani  (1422),  Antonello  Arcimboldo  (1439), 
and  Antonio  Bernieri  bishop  of  Lodi  (1456) ;  the  bas-reliefs  of 
the  Beato  Simone  della  Canna  (1476),  and  those  upon  the  sarco- 
phagus of  Girolamo  Bernieri  (1484)  in  the  Cathedral.  Giacomo, 
Filippo  and  Damiano,  sons  of  Filippo  de  Gonzati  of  Parma,  who 
were  distinguished  as  bronze-casters  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
made  the  statues  of  the  four  Evangelists  in  bronze  upon  the 
balustrade  around  the  ciborium  in  the  Cathedral,  which  are  cre- 
ditable examples  of  their  skill.*  A  celebrated  wood-carver  and 
"  intarsiatore  "  named  Luchino  Bianchini  (b.  1434),  the  sup- 
posed scholar  of  Cristoforo    da    Lendinara,  who  with  his   son 

*  The  ciborium  wag  made  by  Alberto  da  Carrara  1488  (see  Lopez, 
op.  cil.  p.  46). 


230     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Bernardino  worked  at  Parma  for  a  period  of  twenty  years 
(1469-1482),  helped  tliem  to  carve  the  presses  for  the  sacristy 
of  the  Cathedral  (1494)  and  himself  made  the  woodwork  about  its 
great  portal,  as  well  as  the  "  intaglios"  and  "intarsiature"  of  the 
choir  at  San  Lodovico.  His  son  Gian  Francesco,  who  followed 
the  paternal  profession  with  success,  married  the  daughter  of 
Marcautonio  Zucchi,  the  clever  "  intagliatore  "  of  the  choir  stalls 
in  the  charch  of  S.  Giovanni  Evangelista.  This  same  church 
contains  some  excellently-sculptured  capitals  (1510)  signed  by  a 
Maestro  Antonio,  who  was  employed  by  the  Conte  di  Cajazzo 
in  1488,  to  adorn  -the  portal  of  his  palace  with  ornaments  and 
figures.*  Two  workers  in  terra-cotta  of  this  time  are  mentioned 
with  praise,  namely.  Maestro  Francesco,  who  also  worked  at  the 
Cajazzo  Palace,  and  M°  Giovanni  who  made  a  frieze  for  the 
hospital  in  1488, 

Genoa. 

No  one  of  the  great  Italian  cities  has  been  so  artistically  sterile 
as  Genoa,  and  this  seems  due  to  a  want  of  capacity  tor  art  in 
the  nature  of  her  people  rather  than  to  accidental  circumstances, 
since  Pisa  and  Venice,  whose  site,  form  of  government  and  com- 
mercial relations  were  identical  with  hers,  rivalled  the  inland 
cities  in  the  number  and  excellence  of  their  artists. 

In  vain  do  we  search  among  the  many  Genoese  sculptors 
who  flourished  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  for  one 
eminent  name,  although  the  absence  of  any  such  cannot  be 
ascribed  to  the  want  of  good  foreign  examples,  as  the  Cathe- 
dral contains  many  fine  works  by  Civitali.f  and  S.  Matteo  the 
marbles  of  Montorsoli.  j 

The  monuments  to  Cardinals  Luca  (d.  1336)  and  Georgio 
Fieschi  (d.  1469)  in  the  Cathedral,  although  divided  by  the 
interval  of  more  than  a  century,  show  no  progressive  develop- 
ment in  style,  and  the  two  bas-reliefs  of  the  Crucifixion,  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Holy  Crucifix  and  in  the  sacristy,  which  belong 
to  the  same  period  as  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Giorgio,  are  in  no 
wise  remarkable. 

*  "Anno  salutis  MDX.  Antonius  Parmensis  faciebat." — Lopez,  op.  clt, 
p.  46. 

t  /See  p.  152.  %  See  p.  322. 


Genoa  and  Carrara.  231 

To  find  any  sculpture  at  Genoa  which  can  be  classed  with  fair 
quattro-cento  work,  the  church  of  S.  Teodoro  must  be  visited  in 
order  to  see  the  two  marble  tabernacles,  by  an  anonymous,  and 
probably  foreign  sculptor,  who  had  been  bred  in  a  good  school. 
The  central  portion  of  the  one  on  the  left  contains  a  bas-relief 
of  the  Infant  Christ  supported  by  an  angel  and  adored  by  the 
Madonna,  St.  Joseph,  and  a  monk.  Four  Virtues  are  sculptured 
upon  the  pilasters,  as  many  prophets  in  flat-relief  in  roundels 
below  them,  and  groups  of  angels  in  the  base  upon  which  they 
rest. 

Having  open  and  easy  communication  with 

Caeraea, 

either  by  land  or  sea,  Genoa  cannot  plead  want  of  material  for 
sculpture  as  Ihe  cause  of  her  sterility  in  this  art,  but  Carrara 
herself  shows  even  more  markedly  how  little  its  abundance  has 
to  do  with  the  result,  for  though  she  has  trafficked  in  marble 
ever  since  the  Romans  first  worked  the  quarries  of  Luni  in  the 
days  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  has  always  had  her  streets  lined  with 
studios,  she  has  never  produced  a  sculptor  of  real  eminence. 
Her  best  sculptors  are  Alberto  MaSioli  who  flourished  during 
the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century  and  worked  princi- 
pally at  the  Certosa  of  Pavia,  and  Danese  Cattaneo,  the  scholar- 
of  Jacopo  Tatti  (Sansovino),  who  lived  in  the  sixteenth.* 
Alberto  Mafiioli,  whose  bas-relief  in  the  "Lavatoio  dei  Monaci" 
at  the  Certosa  shows  by  its  cartaceous  draperies  and  the 
exaggerated  action  of  its  long-limbed  figures  that  he  was  bred 
in  the  school  of  the  Mantegazza,  occupied  the  studio  which 
they  vacated  after  the  death  of  Cristoforo,  and  probably  had 
a  hand  in  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  fagade.f  In  1190  he  sculp- 
tured the  medallion  portrait  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Yisconti  over  the 
door  of  the  old  sacristy,  and  in  the  next  year  was  made  head 
master  of  the  Cathedral  at  Cremona,  for  whose  fayada  he  pre« 
pared  a  design  which  was  accepted,  but  never  carried  out.  In 
1488  he  worked  at  Parma  upon  the  marble  parapet  of  th'S 
organ  loft  in  the  Cathedral,  which  he  adorned  with  roundels  cap- 
taining heads  of  the  Virgin,  St.  John  and  Hilarius,  sopai-alod 
by  garlands  and  angels'  heads. 

•  /See  p.  371.  +  See  p.  190. 


232     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Smlptttre, 


Cremona. 

Among  the  few  Cremonese  sculptors  wlio  attained  repute  at 
home  and  abroad  before  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury was  Cristoforo  di  Geremia  called  "da  Cremona,"  though 
it  is  doubtful  whether  he  was  not  born  at  Mantua.*  This  artist, 
who  was  sculptor,  bronze-caster,  and  medallist,  restored  the 
equestrian  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius  at  Rome,  for  Paul  II.  in 
1468  ;  and  made  the  medals  of  King  Alfonso  of  Naples  and  of 
the  Emperor  Augustus  (after  1458), f  but  he  did  not,  as  has 
been  erroneously  said,  sculpture  the  sarcophagus  of  SS.  Pietro 
and  Marcellino  in  the  crypt  of  the  Cathedral  at  Cremona,  which 
is  certainly  the  work  of  Benedetto  Briosco.l  Another  Cremonese 
sculptor,  Giovanni  Gasparo  Pedoni  (1450—1504),  sculptured  the 
very  elegant  chimney-piece  in  the  ante-chamber  of  the  Municipal 
Palace  at  Cremona  (1502),  formerly  in  the  Eaimondi  Palace, 
where  some  of  his  sculptures  still  exist.  His  name,  inscribed 
upon  one  of  the  varied  and  beautiful  capitals  (1499)  as  "  da 
Lugano,"  probably  indicates  that  his  family  came  from  that 
town.  If,  as  seems  probable,  he  sculptured  the  marble  decora- 
tions of  the  doorway  of  the  great  hall  in  the  Municipal 
Palace,  it  is  evident  that  his  "forte"  lay  in  ornament 
rather  than  in  the  sculpture  of  figures,  as  the  statuettes  of 
Justice  and  Temperance,  and  the  small  reliefs  of  the  labours 
of  Hercules  upon  the  side  posts  of  this  door  are  far  less 
meritorious  than  the  trophies,  arms,  helmets,  and  other 
Renaissance  ornamental  details.  The  labours  of  Hercules, 
introduced  in  allusion  to  the  tradition  that  Cremona  was 
founded  by  that  demi-god,  appear  upon  the  doorway  of  the 
Palazzo  Stanga  (1499),  of  which  we  have  already  spoken  as 
one  of  the  lately  acquired  treasures  at  the  Louvre,  §  and  upon 
other  portals  of  the  same  type  erected  during  the  dominion  of 
the  Sforzas  in  various  parts  of  their  territory.  Tommaso  Amici 
and  Francesco  Mabila  de'  Maze,  who  made  the  "  dossale  "  of 
the  altar  of  St.  Nicholas  (1495)  in  the  Cathedral  at  Cremona 

*  Yasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  vi.  p.  502 ;  and  Eug.  Miintz,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii. 
p.  93. 

t  Friedldnder,  Jahrbuch,  2nd  vol.  3rd  book,  pp.  178-9. 
+  See  p.  189. 
§  See  p.  111. 


Cre7no7ia  and  Como.  233 

which  has  simply-designed  and  well-draped  figures  of  Saints 
in  its  three  niches,  were  probably  Cremonese,  as  were  Tommaso 
Malvito,  who  sculptured  the  heavily-draped  and  coarsely-exe- 
cuted statue  of  Cardinal  Olivero  Caraffa  in  the  crypt  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Naples  (1504),  and  Cristoforo  Pedoni  son  of  Giovan 
Gaspare  who  made  the  Area  di  San  Arcaldo  in  the  crypt  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Cremona  (1533-38)  and  died  after  1552. 

Of  the  several  artists  belonging  to  the  Sacha  or  Sacchi  family 
of  Cremona,  we  have  but  little  information.  The  eldest,  Paolo, 
an  "  intarsiatore,"  or  wooden  mosaic  worker,  who  died  in  1537, 
had  two  sons,  Giuseppe  and  Bramante.  The  latter  made  four 
saints  in  niches  for  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral,  but,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  he  did  not  sculpture  the  Area  di  SS.  Piero  and 
Marcellino,  or  the  Porta  Stanga,  both  of  which  have  been 
attributed  to  him.  He  was  probably  one  of  the  sculptors  who 
worked  at  the  Certosa  of  Pavia. 


Como. 

Like  the  Cathedral  at  Milan,  and  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  though 
in  a  much  less  degree,  the  Cathedral  at  Como  was  a  gathering 
point  of  artistic  work  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
Its  fa9ade  Mas  designed  and  decorated  by  Lucchino  of  Milan, 
1457-1485,  and  his  successor  Tommaso  di  Giovanni  Piodari  da 
Marogia,  a  town  near  Lugano,  who  continued  in  office  until  his 
death  on  the  9th  of  June,  1526,  and  was  assisted  by  his  brothers 
Donatus,  Bernardino  and  Jacopo.  The  MS.  books  of  the 
Cathedral  contain  many  records  of  payments  made  to  Tommaso 
for  work  done,  as,  e.g.  1484,  40  lire  for  thirteen  figures ; 
November  ]  3,  40  lire  for  a  Magdalen ;  xxv  Sept.,  for  a 
St.  Ambrose,  &c.  ;  1485,  June  xxiii,  payment  made  for  eight 
statuettes  of  Saints  and  one  of  the  Virgin,  &c.* 
.  The  works  of  the  brothers  upon  the  facade  are  the  bas-reliefs 
of  the  Annunciation  and,  perhaps,  that  of  the  Adoration  of 
the  Magi  over  the  great  portal,  which  is  remarkable  in  that  the 
figures   in   the   foreground  are   completely  worked  out  in  the 

*  Extracts  from  the  MS.  Journaux  des  Comptes  made  for  M.  Courrajod, 
Conservatenr  adjoint  of  the  Louvre,  who  has  taken  much  pains  to  clear 
up  the  uncertain  dates  about  the  brothers  Eodari,  and  their  work  at 
Como. 


234     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  SailpttLve. 

round,  while  those  in  the  background  are  in  low  relief,  giving 
the  effect  of  a  scene  upon  the  stage.  The  statuettes  of  the 
Madonna  and  Saints  in  round-headed  niches  uuder  Gothic 
canopies  over  the  great  portal,  and  the  two  very  ornate  recesses 
on  either  side  of  it  which  contain  statues  of  the  two  Plinys, 
are  all  by  the  brothers  Rodari.  Of  these  statues,  that  to  the  left 
is  signed  by  Thomas  and  Jacobus  "  fratris  de  Eodariis,"  and 
dated  1498.  Though  faulty  in  proportion,  and  essentially  deco- 
rative in  style,  they  produce  a  pleasing  and  picturesque  effect. 
The  marble  casings  of  the  two  side  doors  of  the  Cathedral,  one 
of  which  is  called  the  "Porta  della  Rana,"  have  been  so  much 
mutilated  that  it  is  difficult  to  judge  of  their  original  merit,  but 
they  bear  traces  of  taste  and  careful  study  of  nature.  Other 
works  by  the  Rodari  inside  the  Cathedral,  such  as  the  second- 
rate  and  feeble  "  dossales"  of  the  altars  of  SS.  Lucia  (1492) 
and  Apollonia,  show  that  they  were  less  successful  in  dealing 
with  figure  than  with  ornamental  sculpture. 


BOOK    III. 


THE     LATER    RENAISSANCE. 

150n  to  1600. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  year  1500  is  a  landmark  between  the  early  and  the  later 
Renaissance,  the  Quattro  and  the  Cinque-cento.  It  divides 
the  age  when  the  Antique  was  taken  as  a  guide,  from  the  De- 
cadence when  it  was  taken  as  a  master ;  the  age  when  nature 
was  interpreted  in  a  realistic  spirit,  and  gems  and  marbles  were 
studied  to  purify  the  taste  and  elevate  the  style,  from  the  age 
when  ancient  art  was  slavishly  imitated,  and  the  barriers  be- 
tween painting  and  sculpture  were  completely  thrown  down. 
In  the  later  period  the  nude  was  more  broadly  treated,  draperies 
were  more  classically  arranged,  and  the  balance  of  the  figure, 
as  of  the  left  side  against  the  right,  the  upper  part  of  the  body 
against  the  lower,  was  more  consciously  observed,  but  on  the 
other  hand  there  was  a  marked  loss  of  that  freshness,  naivete, 
and  individuality,  which  makes  the  works  of  the  earlier  time  as 
superior  to  those  of  the  later,  as  fruits  warmed  into  life  by  the 
potent  rays  of  an  Italian  sun  are  superior  to  those  w-hich  have 
been  forced  by  artificial  heat.  Between  the  two  there  "was  an 
intermediate  period  when  sculpture  was  chiefly  represented  by 
Andrea  Sansovino,  whose  successive  works  illustrate  the  gradual 
change  from  the  old  to  the  new  school,  and  bridge  over  the  gap 
between  them. 

Andrea  was  the  son  of  Niccolo  di  Domenico  Contucci,  a  shep- 
herd of  Monte  San  Savino  near  Arezzo,  whence  his  name, 
slightly  euphonised  into  Sansovino.*  Born  in  1460,  he  spent 
his  early  years  in  tending  his  father's  flocks,  and  like  Giotto 

*  Milanesi,  ed.  Vasari,  vol.  iv.  p.  509,  gives  the  name  of  Andrea's 
father  as  Niccolo  di  Domenico  (called  Menco)  di  Muccio,  whence  his 
family  was  called  de'  Mucci,  and  later  de'  Contucci.  Niccolo's  will,  dated 
August  4,  1508,  by  which  he  gave  a  house  and  lands  at  Monte  Sansavino 
to  his  two  sons  Andrea  and  Piero,  shows  that  he  was  not,  as  Vasari  saya, 
"poverissimo." 


238     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

whiled  away  the  lonely  hours  by  drawiug  sheep  in  the  sand,  or 
on  the  flat  stones  which  he  picked  up  in  the  fields.  One  day 
the  Podesta  Simon  Vespucci  found  him  thus  occupied,  and 
struck  with  his  evident  talent,  asked  and  obtained  his  father's 
consent  to  let  him  send  the  young  artist  to  Florence  to  study 
with  Antonio  Pollajuolo,  under  whom  and  in  the  gardens  of 
St.  Mark's,  where  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  had  opened  an  Academy 
under  the  superintendence  of  Donatello's  pupil  Bertoldo,  San- 
sovino  made  rapid  progress.*  His  first  original  works  were  terra- 
cotta busts  of  Nero  and  Galba,  after  antique  medallions,  one  of 
which  came  into  Vasari's  possession.  These  no  longer  exist, 
but  the  painted  terra-cotta  altar  in  the  church  of  Sta.  Chiara 
at  Monte  San  Savino  which  he  made  at  a  very  early  period  of 
his  life,  shows  that  at  that  time  the  Italian  masters  of  the 
Quattro-cento  had  no  small  influence  upon  him.  No  one  can 
look  at  the  San  Lorenzo  in  the  central  niche,  over  which  flying 
angels  hold  the  martyr's  crown,  without  being  reminded  of 
Donatello's  St.  George  by  the  turn  of  the  head  and  the  ener- 
getic expression  of  the  face,  or  at  the  St.  Sebastian  on  his 
right  hand,  without  thinking  of  Civitali's  statue  of  that  saint 
in  the  Cathedral  at  Lucca,  or  at  the  San  Rocco  on  his  left, 
without  recognising  the  spirit  of  the  Quattro-centisti. 

Between  1488  and  1492,  Sausoviuo  carved  two  pilasters  for 
the  sacristy  of  Santo  Spirito  at  Florence,  built  the  corridor 
between  it  and  the  church,  and  made  an  altar  for  the  Corbinelli 
chapel  with  statues  of  SS.  James  and  Matthew  and  an  infant 
Christ  with  angels,  and  reliefs  of  the  Annunciation  and  the 
Coronation  of  the  A^irgin,  the  Beheading  of  St.  John,  the  Last 
Supper,  and  a  Picta,  which,  though  not  strikingly  individual 
works,  arc  pure  in  style  and  technically  excellent. 

From  the  early  part  of  1491,  when  he  was  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  competitive  designs  odcred  for  the  fa9ade  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, until  the  year  1500,  Sansovino  lived  in  Portugal,  working 
as  architect  and  sculptor  for  King  John,  to  whom  he  had  been 
recommended  by  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  During  these  nine  years 
he  built  a  royal  palace,  carved  a  wooden  altar  with  prophet-statu- 
ettes, and  made  the  statue  of  St.  Mark,  and  the  bronze  bas-relief 
of  the  King  fighting  with  the  Moors  which  still  exists  in  the 

•  See  pp.  105  and  117. 


Andrea  Sansovino.  239 

church  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Mark  at  Coimbra.*  On  hi3 
return  to  Florence  after  this  long  absence  he  accepted  several 
important  commissions,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  four 
years  completed  a  Font  for  the  baptistry  at  Volterra  (1502) ; 
a  Madonna  and  Child  for  the  Cathedral  at  Genoa  (1504),  and 
the  marble  group  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ  over  one  of  the 
doors  of  the  Florentine  Baptistry.  In  this  group,  which  was 
assigned  to  him  in  1502,  and  still  occupied  him  in  January 
1505, f  we  find  a  new  departure,  and  a  modern  spirit.  Though 
admirably  modelled  and  skilfally  grouped,  the  aiming  at  effect  for 
effect's  sake  is  evident  in  the  figures,  and  as  it  betrays  the  self- 
consciousness  of  the  artist  their  power  over  us  is  by  so  much 
diminished.  In  Early  Renaissance  works  we  lose  ourselves,  as 
the  artist  did  his  own  personality  when  in  obedience  to  the 
imperious  promptings  of  his  nature  he  modelled  them  without 
thought  as  to  the  praise  or  censure  which  they  might  ultimately 
receive.  This,  as  it  seems  to  us,  is  a  primary  condition  for  the 
production  of  a  really  fine  work  of  art,  and  this  it  is  which 
makes  the  essential  difference  between  the  art  of  the  early  and 
that  of  the  later  Renaissance.  Between  the  time  when  Sanso- 
vino made  the  altar  at  Santa  Chiara,  and  that  when  he  modelled 
the  St.  John  and  our  Lord  for  the  baptistry  at  Florence,  he 
had  eaten  of  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree,  and  becoming 
self-conscious  had  passed  over  to  the  ranks  of  the  artists  .of  th(* 
sixteenth  century,  in  whose  spirit  he  thenceforward  worked. 

In  the  year  1505  or  1506  he  went  to  Rome,  where  Pope 
Julius  II.  gave  him  a  commission  for  the  splendid  monuments 
of  Cardinals  Ascanio  Maria  Sforza  and  Girolamo  Basso  della 
Rovere  in  the  choir  of  S.  Maria  del  Popolo,  which  differ  in 
ornamental  details  though  they  are  almost  identical  in  design. 
In  each  the  sarcophagus,  standing  in  a  deep  triumphal  arch- 
like  niche,  is  surmounted  by  a  lunette  containing  a  bas-relief 
of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  and  in  each  the  rich  cornice  of 
the  entablature  above  the  lunette  is  crowned  by  the  arms  of 
the  Cardinal,  above  which  Christ  enthroned  sits  between  two 
angels  holding  candelabra,  and  standing  upon  pedestals  shaped 

*  Raczynski,  ies  Arts  en  Fortugal.     Paris,  1846,  p.  S^-t. 

t  Said  to  have  been  finished  by  Vincenzo  Danti  after  the  death  of 
Sansovino.  The  praying  angel  is  by  Innocenzo  Spinazzi,  a  sculptor  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 


240     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

like  capitals.  The  statuettes  of  the  Virtues  in  niches  to  the 
right  and  left  of  the  sepulchral  effigy  are  flanked  by  rich 
Corinthian  columns,  and  above  them,  outside  the  lunette,  there 
are  two  other  seated  Virtues,  while  from  the  massive  base  of 
the  structure  to  its  summit  the  flat  spaces  are  enriched  with 
ornament  of  a  classical  character.  The  two  things  especially 
to  be  noted  as  novel  features  in  these  tombs  are,  first  the  non- 
dependence  of  the  statuettes  and  effigies  upon  the  architecture, 
and  secondly  the  representation  of  the  deceased  leaning  upon 
his  elbow,  with  his  head  resting  on  his  hand  as  if  he  had 
fallen  asleep.  Upon  Etruscan  and  Roman  sarcophagi  the  dead 
man  is  represented  as  if  reclining  at  a  banquet,  in  order  to 
recall  him  to  his  friends  as  they  knew  him  in  life,  and  to  com- 
fort them  with  the  assurance  that  he  is  still  feasting  in  the 
Elysian  fields,  wdiile  upon  Gothic  and  Early  Eenaissance  tombs 
the  portrait  statue  is  always  laid  out  in  the  majestic  repose  and 
solemn  stillness  of  death,  like  the  body  when  it  was  laid  to  rest 
in  the  sarcophagus.  Both  modes  of  representation  were  justi- 
fied by  their  special  significance,  but  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a 
justification  for  the  senseless  compromise  between  the  two,  first 
made  by  Sansovino,  as  it  has  neither  the  meaning  of  the  pagan, 
nor  the  beautiful  fitness  of  the  Christian  practice. 

In  1512  Sansovino  sculptured  a  marble  group  cf  the 
Madonna  and  Child  with  St.  Anne,  for  James  Corycius,  a 
German  prelate  noted  as  a  patron  of  literature  and  the  arts, 
whose  praises,  sung  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  Latin  sonnets 
which  were  affixed  to  it  in  the  church  of  S.  Agostino,  and  after- 
wards published  in  a  volume  called  Coryciano,  were  prompted, 
we  surmise,  by  the  gratitude  of  the  recipients  of  his  bounty, 
rather  than  by  the  merits  of  the  group. 

After  terminating  this  work,  our  sculptor  was  sent  to  Loreto 
by  Pope  Leo  X.  (1513)  to  superintend  and  assist  in  decorating 
■the  exterior  of  the  marble  temple  which  encloses  the  "  Santa 
Casa "  with  bas-reliefs,  of  which  he  modelled  the  Nativity 
(1528),  and  the  Annunciation  (1522),  and  began  the  Adoration 
of  the  Kings,  and  the  birth,  marriage,  and  death  of  the  Virgin. 
The  last  three  were  finished  by  his  assistants,  who  are  respon- 
sible for  the  remaining  reliefs,  which  fully  illustrate  the  then 
fallen  state  of  Tuscan  sculpture,  and  show  how  ignorant  the 
leading  artists  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  centurv  were  of 


yacopo  Tatti.  241 

the  nature  and  treatment  of  relief.  Though  Sansovino's  works 
are  superior  to  those  of  his  assistants,  they  in  no  wise  deserve 
the  praises  which  have  been  lavished  upon  them.  Take  the 
Nativity  for  instance  as  an  example  of  ultra  pictorial  sculpture, 
and  note  its  complete  want  of  repose.  The  angels,  the  shep- 
herds, and  St.  Joseph,  seem  possessed  by  the  demon  of  unrest, 
and  even  the  ]\Iadonna  bending  over  the  infant  Christ  has  her 
soul  disquieted  within  her.  Look  also  at  the  Annunciation, 
which  Vasari  calls  a  miracle  of  art,  with  its  shrinking  Virgin, 
its  curtseying  angel,  its  vaunted  vase  of  flowers,  whose  stems  and 
leaves  have  been  surpassed  a  thousand  times  by  the  sculptors 
of  the  Early  Renaissance,  its  landscape  and  architectural  back- 
ground cut  up  by  jarring  lines,  and  its  sky  filled  with  sharp- 
edged  clouds  bound  together  like  bundles  of  spears. 

Here  we  may  leave  Sansovino,  with  regret  that  his  remark- 
able powers  led  to  no  better  result.  He  spent  his  latter  years 
in  planning  the  fortifications  at  Loreto,  and  in  agricultural 
pursuits  at  Monte  San  Savino,  and  died  at  Rome  of  a  fever  in 
the  year  1529. 

Though  inventive  and  skilful,  he  was  always  wanting  in 
repose,  and  too  often  aiming  at  effect.  Mannered  in  his  later 
works  he  is  seldom  interesting  at  any  period.  Cold,  correct,  and 
shallow,  he  sometimes  favourably  influences  the  judgment,  but 
never  touches  the  heart.  While  we  thus  judge  him,  we  must 
not  forget  that  he  worked  at  Rome  during  part  of  the  reign  of 
Leo  X.,  when  Michelangelo  and  Raphael,  both  in  the  ascen- 
dant, were  shining  with  a  light  which  made  all  lesser  luminaries 
grow  pale,  and  allow  that  to  have  then  made  a  distinguished 
reputation  is  no  small  proof  of  merit. 

His  most  remarkable  pupil  was  Jacopo  Tatti,  called 
Sansovino  (b.  1477),  whom  Andrea  received  into  his  studio 
at  the  age  of  twenty- one,  soon  after  his  return  from  Spain. 
Jacopo's  father,  Antonio,  wished  him  to  become  a  merchant,  but 
his  mother,  whose  ambitious  mind  was  filled  with  the  fame  of 
Michelangelo,  fostered  his  love  of  art,  and  finally  persuaded 
her  husband  to  allow  their  son  to  become  a  sculptor.  He  first 
attracted  attention  (1508-9)  in  a  competition  with  Rafl'aello  di 
Moutelupo  for  a  statue  of  St.  «Tohn  the  Evangelist,  ordered  by 
the  Silk  Merchants'  Guild,  when  his  design,  though  not 
accepted,  was   highly  commended  by  the  best  judges,  and  so 


242     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scitlptiire. 

much  admired  by  his  friend  Andrea  del  Sarto  that  he  used 
it  for  his  St.  John  in  the  Madonna  delle  Arpie  (1517).* 

In  1510  Jacopo  followed  his  master  to  Rome  in  company 
with  the  famous  architect  Giuliano  di  Sangallo,  under  whose 
instruction  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  great  architectural 
knowledge,  and  associated  there  with  artists  of  the  old  and 
of  the  new  schools  of  art,  who  live  for  us  in  works  so  widely 
sundered  in  style  that  we  can  hardly  imagine  them  to  have 
been  contemporaries. t  After  living  for  some  time  with  Sangallo, 
Jacopo  took  up  his  abode  in  the  palace  of  the  Cardinal  di 
San  Clemente  with  Perugino,  for  whom  he  is  said  to  have 
modelled  a  Crucifixion  and  many  figures  in  wax  to  serve  as 
models,  though  it  seems  difficult  to  understand  how  the  aged 
painter  could  have  used  the  designs  of  an  artist,  who  from  the 
first  showed  himself  to  be  a  disciple  of  a  school  whose  prin- 
ciples were  not  at  all  in  accordance  with  his  own. 

Bramante's  friendship  procured  our  young  sculptor  and 
architect  an  entrance  to  the  Vatican,  where  he  made  a  model 
of  the  Laocoon  which  was  cast  in  bronze,  |  and  found  both 
profit  and  emolument  in  restoring  antique  statues  for  Pope 
Julius,  until  he  was  obliged  by  ill  health  to  leave  Rome  for 
Florence,  where  with  the  classic  influence  of  the  Eternal  City 
strong  upon  him  he  modelled  the  nude  Bacchus  of  the  Bargello 
(1513),  which  ushers  in  that  long  line  of  statues  of  an  antique 
tj'pe  whose  descendants,  if  one  may  so  speak,  people  our 
modern  studios.  Of  their  prototypes  this  figure  is  one  of  the 
best,  easy  in  its  action,  correct  in  its  proportions,  and  elegant 
in  its  forms,  but  with  all  its  cold  perfections  less  precious 
than  a  chip  of  marble  from  the  workshop  of  a  Donatello  or 
a  Desiderio.  When  Leo  X.  made  his  triumphal  entry  into 
Florence   in  1515,  he  was  much   impressed  with  the  beauty 

*  In  the  Tribune  at  the  Uffizi.  Nanni  Unghero,  the  wood  carver,  one 
of  Jacopo's  early  patrons,  owned  his  sketch  of  this  figure.  Temanza, 
Vita  di  Sansovino,  p.  200. 

t  Perugino  painted  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  between  1480  and  1495,  and 
died  in  1524.  Signorelli  painted  in  the  Sistine  Chupel  about  1484,  and 
died  in  1523.  Pinturicchio  finished  the  Ara  Coeli  frescos  in  1500,  and 
died  in  1513. 

X  Cardinal  Grimani,  who  purchased  it,  left  it  by  will  to  the  Venetian 
Signory,  by  whom  it  was  given  to  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  who  took  it 
with  him  to  France. 


yacopo  Sansovino.  243 

of  a  temporary  wooden  facade  decorated  with  bas-reliefs  and 
statues  of  the  apostles  by  Sansovino,  and  expressed  himself  so 
warmly  that  Jacopo  was  led  to  hope  that  the  Pope  would  com- 
mission him  to  build  the  facade  of  San  Lorenzo,  but  in  this  he 
was  disappointed,  as  on  presenting  himself  at  the  Vatican  with 
his  design  he  found  that  he  had  been  forestalled  by  Michel- 
angelo (1516).  He  remained  at  Rome  for  the  next  seven  years, 
and  judging  from  the  colossal  Madonna  which  he  made  for  the 
church  of  San  Agostino,  came  under  the  all-pervading  influence 
of  his  great  countryman,  which  shows  itself  in  the  massive 
structure  of  the  figure,  the  pose  of  the  hands,  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  drapery. 

Having  made  a  design  for  the  church  of  San  Giovanni,  which 
the  Florentine  residents  proposed  to  erect  in  honour  of  their 
patron  Saint  in  the  Via  Giulia,  and  been  appointed  its  head 
architect,  Jacopo  commenced  operations,  but  before  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  he  met  with  an  accident  which  obliged  him 
to  give  up  the  direction  of  the  works  and  retire  to  Florence, 
whence  he  proceeded  to  Venice  (1523).  At  this  time  the 
cupolas  of  St.  Mark's  church  were  in  a  ruinous  condition,  and 
the  doge  Andrea  Gritti  hearing  from  Cardinal  Grimani  that  the 
one  man  in  the  world  who  could  restore  them  had  arrived  in 
the  city,  sent  for  him  to  undertake  the  work,*  but  Jacopo  having 
just  then  heard  of  the  election  of  Clement  VII.,  who  being  a 
Medici  was  expected  to  revive  the  golden  days  of  Leo  X.'s  reign, 
declined  to  do  so,  and  went  back  to  Rome,  where  he  remained 
until  lo'27.  Forced  to  fly  when  the  city  was  besieged  by  the 
Constable  de  Bourbon,  he  once  more  turned  his  steps  to 
Venice,  where  he  was  warmly  received  by  his  friends  Titian  and 
Pietro  Aretino,  and  appointed  to  succeed  Bartolomeo  Bon  as 
Protomastro  of  the  Republic,  an  office  which  gave  him  charge 
over  St.  Mark's  church  and  the  adjacent  buildings,  with  a  hand- 
some salary,  and  a  house. f  He  was  at  this  time  fifty-two  years 
old,  and  had  yet  a  career  of  forty-or.e  years  before  him,  during 
which  he  built  so  many  churches  and  palaces,  that  it  may 
be  safely  said  that  no  one  architect  ever  left  his  impress  so 
strongly  upon  a  city  as  Sansovino  upon  Venice.     Had  his  style 

*  Date    of  Sansovino's   visit    to   Venice    fixed   in  1523,  as   Cardinal 
Grimani  died  at  Eome  on  the  27tli  of  August  of  that  year. 
t  Decree  dated  April  7,  1529 

R    2 


244     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sailpture. 

been  that  of  a  Brunellesclii  or  an  Alberti,  how  differcut  Avould 
have  been  the  result  attained  !  but  unfortunately  it  was  corrupt, 
and  despite  its  undeniably  rich  and  picturesque  character,  fruit- 
ful of  evil  to  the  rising  generation.      Capable  only  of  assimi- 
lating its  defects,  his  many  scholars*  developed  them  into  the 
wild  extravagancies  of  the  Baroque,  to  which  the  cold  formalities 
of  Palladio  and  other  Vitruvians  form  a  scarcely  less  obnoxious 
antidote.     Both  in  architecture  and  in  sculpture   as  connected 
with  it,  Jacopo   Sansovino  aimed  at  a  decorative  effect.     In  his 
buildings  we  get  an  impression  of  rich  detail  at  the  expense  of 
breadth  and  mass   of   structure,  and  feel  in  the  statues  which 
he  placed  about  them,  that  they  were  only  thought  of  from  a 
pictorial  point  of  view.     Thus  it  happens  that  while  his  single 
figures  are  in  many  respects  excellent,  his  architectural  statues 
want  dignity    and  repose,   and  as  in   the  case  of  the  colossal 
Mars  and  Neptune  upon  the  Scala  d'  Oro  of  the  Ducal  Palace, 
are  utterly  unworthy  of  the  man  who  sculptured  the  Bacchus 
of  the  Bargello.     The  statues  of  Apollo,  Mercury,  Minerva  and 
Peace  in  the  niches  of  the  Loggietta  of  the  Campanile  (1540), 
though  thoroughly  unplastic  in  action  and  conception,  are  of  a 
much  higher  order  of  merit,  and  like  the  terra-cotta  Madonna 
and  Child  with   St.   John  in  the  interior  of  the  Loggietta,  a 
little    figure  of    St.  John    on  a  holy  water  vase  at  the  Frari 
(1554),  and  the  bronze  figure  of  St.  Thomas  of  Eavenna  over 
the  door  of  S.  Giuliano,  form  seme  of  the  better  examples  of 
Jacopo' s  work  as  a  sculptor.      In  bas-relief  he  was  at  his  worst, 
as  he  showed  by  the  six  small  bronze  reliefs  of  the  miracles  of 
St.   Mark   around  the  choir  of  his  Basilica,  which   are  but  a 
confused  mass  of  heads,  arms  and  legs  ;   by  the  bronze  bas- 
reliefs  in  the  sacristy  upon  which  he  worked  at  intervals  during 
a  period  of  thirty  years,  and  by  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  Entomb- 
ment and  the  Besurrection   upon  the  door   leading    into  the 
sacristy. 

A  Madonna  in  the  court  of  the  Arsenal,  the  Poducatoro 
monument  at  S.  Sebastiano,  the  tomb  of  the  doge  Francesco 
Venier  (155G)  at  S.  Salvatore,  the  four  Evangelists  upon  the 
balustrade  of  the  high  altar  of  St.  Mark's,  and  a  very  mediocre 

*  Among  them  were  II  Tribolo,  II  Solismeo,  Luca  Jjancia,  Bartolonieo 
Amnianati,  Danese  Cattaneo,  Alessandro  Vittoria,  Girolamo  da  Ferrara, 
and  Tiziano  Sogala. 


Francesco  di  Sanmllo. 

o 


245 


bas-relief,  representing  an  incident  in  the  life  of  San  Antonio,  in 
the  chapel  of  the  Saint  at  Padua,  may  be  mentioned  as  further 
examples  of  the  degeneration  of  his  later  style.  The  career  of 
Jacopo  Sansovino  at  Venice  was  uninterruptedly  successful,  with 
one  exception,  namely,  the  falling  in  of  the  roof  of  the  Public 
Library  while  in  process  of  construction  (1545).  For  this  catas- 
trophe he  was  held  rcsj)onsible,  deprived  of  his  office  under 
government,  and  both  heavily  fined  and  imprisoned.  After  his 
release,  obtained  through  the  efforts  of  his  scholar  Danese 
Cattaneo  and  his  friend  Pietro  Aretino,  he  repaired  the  roof 
and  finished  the  building.     In  February,  1549,  he  was  restored 


Bishop  Bonafede.     (By  Francesco  di  Sangallo.) 

to  favour  and  position,  and  until  his  death  (1570)  was  con- 
stantly occupied  in  the  duties  of  his  profession.  He  was  buried 
at  S.  Gimignano,  whence  his  remains  were  removed  to  S.  Maria 
della  Salute  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

Francesco  di  Sangallo  (b.  1493,  d.  1570),  the  son  of  the 
famous  architect  Giuliano,*  and,  like  Jacopo  Tatti,  the  pupil  of 
Andrea  Sansovino,  sculptured  the  recumbent  effigy  of  Lionardo 
Bonafede,  Bishop  of  Cortona  (see  woodcut),  whose  position,  in 
the  pavement  of  a  chapel  at  the  Florentine  Ccrtosa  of  which 
he  was  the  Superior,  gives  it  a  striking  effect.    The  mitred  head 

*  The  tomb  of  Francesco  Sassetti,  in  the  Sassetti  Chapel  at  Sta.  Trinita» 
is  generally  attributed  to  Giuliano  di  Sangallo,  though  Vasari  does  not 
mention  it  as  such.  The  little  figures  performing  funeral  obsequies,  and 
the  medallion  portrait  of  the  deceased  in  flat-relief  upon  the  base  of  the 
sarcophagus,  are  sculptured  in  a  pure  quattro-cento  style. 


246     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture, 

rests  on  a  cushion,  the  hands  are  crossed  upon  the  breast,  and 
the  robes  are  simply  disposed  over  the  straight  laid  limbs. 
Other  works  by  the  same  sculptor  are  a  group  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child  with  St.  Anne  (1526)  at  Or  San  Michele,  the  monument 
of  Bishop  Angelo  Marzi  at  the  Annunziata,  the  statue  of  the 
historian  Paolo  Giovio,  Bishop  of  Nocera,  two  heads  in  relief  of 
the  IMadonna  and  San  Eocco  at  Fiesole  in  the  church  of 
S.  Maria  Primerana,  and  the  monument  to  Piero  de'  Medici  in 
the  church  of  the  convent  of  Monte  Cassino. 

Were  it  not  for  the  recumbent  effigy  of  Bishop  Bonafede  at 
the  Certosa,  Francesco  di  Sangallo  would  hardly  be  remembered, 
for  he  had  neither  remarkable  skill  nor  originality,  but  this 
was  not  the  case  with  his  contemporary  Benedetto,  the  son  of 
M.  Bartolomeo  di  Piicco  di  Grazino,  de'  Grazini,  called  "  da 
Rovezzano,"  from  a  small  town  near  Florence  where  he  had  an 
estate.  Born  at  Pistoja  about  1474,  he  left  Tuscany  at  an  early 
age  to  exercise  his  profession  in  other  parts  of  Italy.  He  is 
first  heard  of  at  Genoa  in  1499,  as  employed  with  Donato  Beati, 
a  Florentine  sculptor,  upon  the  marble  "  cantoria  "  of  the  church 
of  San  Stefano,  which  they  had  been  commissioned  to  make  by 
the  Abbot  Lorenzo  del  Fiesco.  The  two  artists  are  also  said  to 
have  made  a  monument  for  Louis  XII.,  King  of  France,  in  1502, 
and  to  have  gone  there  from  Genoa  to  set  it  up,  but  nothing  is 
known  positively  of  Benedetto's  movements  until  1505,  when 
he  returned  home,  and  sculptured  the  very  beautiful  chimney- 
piece  of  the  Casa  Ptoselli.  The  tombs  of  Piero  Soderini  at  the 
Carmine  (1512),  and  of  the  Prior  Oddo  Altoviti  (d.  Sept.  28, 
1507)  in  the  choir  of  the  SS.  Apostoli,  are  the  works  which 
most  fully  illustrate  his  peculiar  mode  of  dealing  with  orna- 
ment when  applied  to  sepulchral  monuments,  both  as  regards 
choice  of  subject  and  technical  treatment.  Instead  of  the 
sphinxes,  ribbons,  vases,  festoons,  putti,  &c.,  in  favour  with  his 
predecessors,  Benedetto  used  mortuary  emblems,  such  as  skulls, 
crossbones,  &c.,  almost  exclusively,  and  these  he  treated  in 
every  variety  of  relief,  from  the  flattest  to  the  highest,  keeping 
the  first  almost  level  with  the  surface  of  the  marble,  and  work- 
ing out  the  last  nearly  in  the  round,  with  deep  perforations  and 
under-cuttings.  The  result  is  highly  effective  and  altogether 
peculiar.  Where,  as  in  the  statue  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist 
*  Cicognara,  vide  vol.  ii.  plate  xxx. 


Benedetto  da  Rovezzano.  247 

(1512)  at  the  Cathedral,  Benedetto  attempted  to  deal  with  large 
figures  in  the  round,  he  was  far  less  successful  than  in  treating 
ornament,  to  judge  hy  this  single  example,  as  we  must  do, 
since  the  life-size  figures  which  he  sculptured  for  the  monument 
of  San  Giovanni  Gualberto,  founder  of  the  famous  convent  of 
Vallomhrosa,  were  destroyed  by  the  papal  and  imperial  soldiers 
during  the  siege  of  Florence  in  1530.  Begun  before  1511  in 
the  sculptor's  studio  outside  the  Porta  S.  Croce,  it  remained 
there  up  to  the  time  of  the  siege,  and  was  never  set  up  in  the 
church  of  the  Monastery  of  Pasignano,  for  which  it  was  destined. 
Three  of  the  five  bas-reliefs  at  the  Bargello,  which  are  all  that 
remain  of  it,  are  mere  fragments,  but  the  other  two,  though 
injured,  are  tolerably  perfect.  One  of  them  represents  the 
Saint  expelling  a  demon  from  the  body  of  the  monk  Florenzio, 
and  the  other  the  removal  of  the  Saint's  remains  from  Pasig- 
nano to  Vallomhrosa  upon  a  bier  borne  by  monks  and  attended 
by  an  angel  with  outspread  wings.  The  beauty  of  this  celestial 
attendant  is  set  off  by  the  writhing  form  of  a  boy  possessed  with 
a  devil  (see  tail-piece),  who  brought  with  hope  of  cure  to  meet 
the  procession,  struggles  in  the  arms  of  his  keepers.  Skilfully 
wrought,  and  well  composed,  these  reliefs  show  that  Benedetto 
had  dramatic  power  as  well  as  great  technical  skill,  and  had 
this  monument  and  that  which  he  made  for  Cardinal  Wolsey 
escaped  destruction,  we  should  not,  as  now,  feel  that  his  talents 
are  but  inadequately  represented. 

The  Cardinal's  tomb,  which  consisted  of  a  marble  sarcopha- 
gus with  bronze  enrichments,  was  commenced  by  Benedetto  in 
1524,  five  years  before  Wolsey  fell  from  power.  Henry  "VT^II. 
then  ordered  him  to  complete  it  for  himself,  but  although  it 
must  have  been  finished  long  before  the  monarch's  death  (1517»), 
he  was  not  buried  in  it,  nor  was  Charles  I.,  as  he  also  intended 
to  have  been.  Its  rich  metal  work  was  melted  down  in  1616 
by  order  of  Parliament,  and  the  sarcophagus  remained  unten- 
anted until  1805,  when  it  received  the  remains  of  the  hero  of 
Trafalgar.  How  long  Benedetto  remained  in  England  we  do 
not  know,  but  he  probably  returned  to  Florence  long  before  his 
death,  which  took  place  about  1552,  after  he  had  passed  twelve 
years  in  a  state  of  total  blindness. 

Before  Cardinal  "Wolsey  gave  Benedetto  the  commission  for 
nis  monument,  he  had  negotiated  for  it  with  one  of  his  con- 


24B     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptnre, 

temporaries,  Piero  Torrigiano.  This  Florentine  sculptor,  who 
was  born  in  1472,  and  went  to  England  about  1513  to  make  the 
tomb  of  Henry  VII.,  left  Florence  in  1492  for  Rome,  after  he 
had  brought  himself  into  disfavour  with  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  by 
his  brutal  conduct  to  Michelangelo,  whom  he  had  disfigured  for 
life  by  a  blow  given  during  a  dispute  which  arose  between  them 
on  some  trifling  subject,  while  they  were  employed  together  at 
the  Carmine.  After  spending  some  time  in  working  in  stucco 
at  the  Torre  Borgia,  he  served  in  the  papal  army  under  Caesar 
Borgia  in  the  Romagna,  fought  at  the  battle  of  Garigliano  (1503) 
where  Piero  de'  Medici  lost  his  worthless  life,  and  then  becom- 
ing impatient  of  non-advancement  after  eight  or  ten  years  of 
military  life,  went  to  England  where  he  soon  attained  great 
reputation  for  his  skill  in  marble,  brass,  and  woodwork. 
In  1518,  after  he  had  been  commissioned  to  make  the  monu- 
ment of  Henry  VIL,  he  returned  to  Florence  to  obtain  more 
able  assistants  than  he  could  find  in  England,  and  among 
others  selected  Benvenuto  Cellini,  who  outraged  by  the 
insolent  manner  in  which  he  boasted  of  the  result  of  his 
quarrel  with  Michelangelo,  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  him.* 

Others  proved  less  scrupulous,  and  Torrigiano  with  their 
assistance,  completed  what  Lord  Bacon  calls  "  one  of  the  state- 
liest and  dai)itiest  monuments  in  Europe,  in  which  King 
Henry  VIL"  (with  Queen  EHzabeth)  "  lieth  buried  at  Westmin- 
ster, so  that  he  dwelleth  more  richly  dead  in  the  monument  of 
his  tombe  than  he  did  alive  in  Ptichmond,  or  any  of  his 
palaces."!  This  tomb,  which  is  considered  the  best  example  of 
the  Pienaissance  style  in  England,  is  made  of  black  marble  ;  its 
sides  are  divided  into  panels  by  bronze  pilasters,  which  are  orna- 
mented with  the  King's  emblems,  the  rose  and  the  portcullis. 
The  panels  are  filled  with  bas-reliefs,  representing  the  Virgin 
and  Child,  the  Archangel  Michael  trampling  on  Satan,  SS. 
John  the  Baptist  and  Evangelist,  George  of  England,  Anthony 
of  Padua,  Christopher  and.Vincent  (the  king's  two  patron  saints), 

*  In  his  autobiography,  p.  23,  Cellini  describes  Torrigiano  as  a  hand- 
some man,  with  the  air  of  a  soldier  rather  than  an  artist,  given  to  much 
gesticulation,  possessed  of  a  sonorous  voice,  ever  in  the  habit  of  knitting 
his  brows  in  a  terrible  manner,  and  daily  boastful  of  his  valorous  deeds 
'amongst  those  English  beasts." 

f  History  of  the  Beigne  of  Jlenry  VII.     London,  1622. 


Torrigiano.  249 

the  Magdalen,  and  SS.  Barbara  and  Anne.  Armorial  bearings 
with  the  quarterings  of  France,  England,  Ulster,  and  Mortimer, 
are  placed  at  each  end  of  the  tomb,  upon  the  top  of  which  lie 
the  bronze  effigies  of  the  king  and  queen,  draped  with  simple 
and  well-arranged  folds.* 

An  "  awlter  and  various  images,"  which  Torrigiano  bound 
himself  "  to  make  and  work,  or  do  to  be  made  and  wrought,"  to 
stand  within  the  screen,  was  destroyed  during  the  Civil  Wars 
by  Sir  Eobert  Harlow,  who,  says  a  chronicler,  "after  breaking 
into  Henry  VII.'s  chapel,  brake  down  the  altar  stone  which 
stood  before  that  goodly  monument  of  Henry  VII."f  From  its 
similarity  of  style,  Torrigiano  is  also  supposed  to  have  made 
the  monument  of  ISIargaret,  Countess  of  Richmond,!  which 
stands  in  a  chapel  adjoining  that  of  her  son,  King  Henry  VII. 
The  copper  effigy  (originally  gilt)  represents  her  dressed  in  a 
plain  mourning  habit,  with  her  feet  resting  on  a  collared 
antelope,  the  Lancastrian  emblem.  The  face  and  hands  seem 
to  have  been  cast  from  life,  the  drapery  is  skilfully  arranged, 
and  the  work  technically  excellent.  Horace  Walpole  had  a 
head  in  his  possession,  supposed  to  represent  Henry  VII.  in 
the  agonies  of  death,  attributed  to  Torrigiano,  §  as  is  the  tomb 
of  Dr.  Young,  Master  of  the  Eolls,  in  the  Chancery  Lano 
Chapel,  at  London,  the  Italian  character  of  which  strikes  the  eye 
agreeably  in  a  foreign  land.  The  recumbent  terra-cotta  figure, 
simply  treated,  lies  upon  a  stone  sarcophagus  of  early  Renais- 
sance style,  under  a  low  arch,  above  which  are  placed  a  head  of 
Christ,  and  two  angels  in  terra-cotta. 

*  Torrigiano  received  ^1,500  in  payment  for  this  monument.  It  stands 
within  a  sacelkim,  or  chantry  chapel  of  brass,  which  is  Rupposcd  to  be 
the  work  of  English  artists,  as  it  was  begun  during  the  life  of  Henry  VIL, 
before  "  Peter  Torrysany  "  (as  the  English  called  him)  came  from  Italy. 
■See  Dart's  Westminsinr ;  G.  S.  Scott's  Gleanings  from  Went  minster 
Ahhey,  and  Neale's  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  St. 
Peter's,  Westminster,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 

f  Dr.  Ryves,  AnrjUfe  Rnina.     Neale,  op.  cit. 

X  Daughter  of  John  of  Gaunt;  she  founded  Christ  and  St.  John's 
Colleges  at  Cambridge,  and  was  noted  for  her  literary  tastes  and  her 
charitable  disposition.  See  Neale,  op.  cit.  p.  69,  and  Walpole's  Anecdotes 
of  Paintinq,  vol.  i.  p.  104. 

§  Now  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  It  is 
engraved  in  J.  Carter's  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculpture  and  Painting, 
vol.  il  plate  xl.  p.  44. 


2;0 


Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 


Though  fortune  smiled  upon  him  in  England,  Torrigiano  left 
it  for  Spain  where,  though  he  failed  to  ohtain  the  commission 
for  the  then  contemplated  monuments  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
he  probably  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  made  a  cruci- 
fix, a  terra-cotta  group  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  for  the 
Geronomite  church  at  Seville,  an  alto-relief  of  Charity,  for  the 
tympanum  of  a  door  in  the  Cathedral  of  Grenada,  and  a  terra- 
cotta statue  of  St.  Jerome  originally  coloured  like  life,  now  in 
the  Museum  at  Seville.*  Realistic  in  treatment,  and  carefully 
modelled,  it  represents  the  Saint  kneeling  upon  one  knee,  with 
a  cross  in  one  hand,  and  a  stone  in  the  other. 

The  following  history  of  the  sculptor's  death  is  related  by 
Vasari.  The  Duke  d'Arcos,  a  Spanish  nobleman,  who  had 
ordered  a  duplicate  of  his  terra-cotta  Madonna  in  marble,  sent 
Torrigiano  a  bag  full  of  maravedis,  amounting  to  only  thirty 
ducats,  in  payment.  Insulted  by  this  pitiful  recompense,  he 
shattered  his  group  to  fragments  with  a  hammer,  and  the  duke, 
in  revenge,  denounced  him  to  the  Inquisition  as  an  impious 
heretic  who  had  dared  to  destroy  the  image  of  the  mother  ot 
God.  He  was  then  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  starved  him- 
self to  death. 

*  A  cast  of  it  may  be  seen  at  the  Louvre,  and  another  in  the  Crystal 
Palace  at  Sydenham. 


251 


CHAPTER  II. 

MICHELANGELO. 

Ingenium  triplex  docto  praefulsit  ab  Arno. 

The  complex  nature  of  Michelangelo,  who  is  aptly  called 
the  man  of  four  souls,  has  generally  been  studied  as  a  whole, 
though  any  one  of  its  component  parts,  if,  as  here  examined 
separately,  appears  in  itself  sufficient  to  have  filled  up  his  life, 
as  it  w^ould  have  insured  his  fame. 

In  none  of  the  manifestations  of  his  genius  does  he  appear 
greater  than  in  sculpture,  for  which  his  preference  was  so 
marked,  that  he  always  turned  to  it  when  not  actually  forced  by 
some  one  of  his  taskmasters  to  build  or  to  paint.  In  one  of  his 
letters  he  says,  "  It  is  only  well  with  me  when  I  have  a  chisel 
in  my  hand,"  and  he  tells  us  in  one  of  his  most  beautiful 

sonnets, 

"  The  best  of  artists  hatli  no  thought  to  show 
Which  the  rough  stone  in  its  superfluous  shell 
Doth  not  include."* 

Teeming  with  possibilities,  the  virgin  block  seemed  to  his 
mind  the  prison  of  a  captive  idea  waiting  to  be  set  free  by  the 
action  of  his  strong  hand,  with  which  he  dealt  blow  after  blow, 
until  possessed  by  a  fresh  thought  he  left  the  half-revealed 
image  in  a  state  vague  as  music,  and  as  suggestive  to  the 
imagination,  f 

An  enemy  to  tradition  in  art  as  well  as  to  a  positive  imi- 
tation of  nature,  following  neither  the  Conventionalists,  the 
Realists,  nor  the  worshippers  of  the  Antique,  he  was  a  great 
dreamer,  who  developed  man  into  something  more  than  man, 
and  by  the  novelty  and  strangeness  of  his  creations  placed  him- 
self out  of  the  pale  of  ordinary  criticism.     His  defects,  which  are 

*  XV.  "  Non  ha  '1  ottiraa  artista  alcun  concetto,"  &c. 
f  Carducci  speaks  of  "  quella  man  che  si  potente  puguo  co'  marmi 
atrarne  vita  fuori." 


252     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

palpable  to  all,  are  surrounded,  like  the  spots  in  the  sun,  by  a 
dazzling  indistinctness,  which  renders  it  impossible  to  examine 
them  closely.  Many  are  the  artists  who  suit  our  taste  better, 
move  our  feelings  more  deeply,  and  satisfy  us  a  thousand  times 
more  than  this  Titan  of  a  lale  time,  but  we  know  of  none, 
ancient  or  modern,  who  leaves  a  stronger  impression  of  power 
upon  the  mind,  or  who  more  unmistakably  imprinted  the  stamp 
of  genius  upon  all  that  he  touched. 

Considering  that  Michelangelo  looked  upon  "the  rough 
stone  "  as  including  every  possible  shape,  and  that  sculpture 
was  the  art  of  his  predilection,  it  is  interesting  to  observe 
the  many  ways  in  which  he  was  associated  with  it.  The 
historical  stronghold  of  the  Counts  of  Canossa,  from  whom 
he  supposed  himself  to  be  descended,*  was  a  mountain  for- 
tress, f  his  birthplace  was  a  castle  built  on  the  summit  of  a 
rock,  and  his  wet-nurse  was  the  wife  of  a  stonemason,  so 
that,  as  he  humorously  said,  he  imbibed  his  love  for  marble 
with  his  first  nourishment. 

He  was  born  on  Sunday,  March  6,  1475,  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  in  the  castle  of  Chiusi  e  Caprese  in  Casentino,  a 
Tuscan  stronghold  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Tiber,  of  which 
liis  father,  Ludovico  di  Lionardo  Buonarotti  Simoni,  was 
podesta.  j  Returning  to  Florence  with  his  wife,  Francesca  di 
Neri  di  Miniato  del  Sera,  when  his  year  of  office  had  expired, 
Ludovico  stopped  at  Settignano  where  he  had  a  villa,  §  to  place 

*  Despite  his  strong  republican  tendencies,  Michelangelo  was  proud  of 
his  supposed  descent  from  the  Counts  of  Canossa,  and  was  disposed  to 
take  offence  when  its  reality  was  questioned.  It,  however,  has  no  founda- 
tion in  fact.  (S?e  Aurelio  Gotti,  V'da  di  Miclielunr/elo,  vol.  ii.  pg.  3-5.) 
A.  letter  written  to  Michelangelo  in  1520  by  the  Count  Alessandro  da 
Canossa,  and  signed  your  "bon  parente  "  (see  Gotti,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  4), 
shows  that  he  was,  nevertheless,  recognized  as  a  kinsman  by  the  then 
living  representative  of  the  family. 

t  Situated  in  the  territory  of  Modena  near  Reggio.  It  was  the  patri- 
mony of  the  Countess  i\[atilda,  daughter  of  Boniface,  Marquis  of  Tus- 
cany, the  gi"eat  ecclesiastical  heroine  of  the  eleventh  century. 

X  The  ruins  of  the  castle  crown  a  height  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber. 
The  hill  belongs  to  the  mountain  chain  which  separates  the  source  of  the 
Tiber  from  that  of  the  Arno.  Seenigrimage  to  the  Soiirccs  of  the  Tiber, 
by  W.  Diivios.  The  room  in  which  Michelangelo  was  born  is  still  shown, 
and  a  commemorative  tablet  has  been  placed  in  it. 

§  A  correspondent  of  the  Academy  (January  2,  1875),  describes  the 


Michcla  ngelo.  253 

their  infant  son  in  charge  of  the  stonecutter's  wife.  Thus 
almost  the  first  ohjects  upon  which  Michelangelo's  eyes  rested 
were  the  blocks  of  stone  quarried  by  his  foster-father,  and  the 
chisels  and  hammers  which  he  used  in  his  daily  work.  Does  it 
seem  altogether  fanciful  to  suppose  that  such  early  associations, 
with  the  implements  of  his  special  art,  may  have  fostered  those 
plastic  instincts  which  nature  had  implanted  in  him  at  his 
birth  ? 

As  soon  as  he  grew  old  enough,  Michelangelo  was  sent  to  a 
school  at  Florence,  kept  by  Francesco  Venturini  of  Urbino,* 
who  found  him  more  disposed  to  draw  on  the  margins  of  the 
pages  of  his  books,  than  to  possess  himself  of  their  contents. 
Between  the  dictates  of  his  nature  which  indicated  art,  and  tho 
will  of  his  father  which  pointed  to  trade  as  his  future  occupation, 
the  quick-tempered  and  self-willed  boy  suffered  much  before 
April  1st,  1488,  when  he  obtained  leave  to  enter  the  studio  of 
Dominico  Ghirlandajo,  as  an  assistant,  at  a  progressive  salary 
of  six,  eight,  and  ten  florins  during  three  years,  which  shows 
that  he  was  far  in  advance  of  ordinary  pupils  who  had  to  pass 
through  a  preliminary  apprenticeship.  That  Ghirlandajo  had 
no  appreciable  effect  upon  Michelangelo's  early  manner  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  the  little  natural  affinity  between  them  and  by 
the  pronounced  individuality  of  his  pupil,  who  found  the  antique 
and  modern  marbles  and  bronzes  at  the  gardens  of  St.  Mark 
more  congenial  to  his  disposition.  There  his  esthetic  taste 
was  trained,  while  in  the  studio  he  learned  to  master  technical 
difficulties,  such  as  preparing  colours,  fresco  grounds,  and 
panels  for  painting  in  tempera,  copied  Ghirlandajo's  drawings, 
counterfeited  those  of    other  masters,  and  painted  a  picture 

Buonarotti  villa  as  "a  good-sized  house,  beautifully  situated  on  the  olive- 
clad  slopes  of  the  range  of  hills  stretching  east  from  Fiesole,  commund- 
inof  a  noble  view  over  the  Val  d'Arno  and  Florence.  At  the  top  of  the 
stairway  leading  to  the  kitchen,  there  is  a  drawing  on  the  wall  of  the 
upper  portion  of  the  figure  of  a  Satyr,  attributed  by  tradition  to  Michel- 
angelo, as  are  two  chimney-pieces,  though  these  latter  are  said  by  the  same 
writer  to  be  of  later  date.  C.  H.  Wilson  (L?/e  and  Worlcs  of  Michelangelo, 
p.  9)  savs  the  Satyr  "  is  evidently  by  Michelangelo,  but  when  his  powers 
were  matured."  There  are  also  some  clever  heads  painted  in  fresco  ujjon 
tiles  by  Giovanni  da  San  Giovanni.  The  house  is  now  inhabited  by  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Michelangelo's  old  enemy,  Baccio  Bandinolli. 

*  Author  of  the  first  complete  Latin  grammar  printed  at  Urbiuo  in 
1494!  by  blaster  Heinrich  of  Cologne. 


254     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdptnre. 

from  Martin  Schonganer's  engraving  of  St.  Anthony  tormented 
by  devils  and  monsters  covered  with  scales,  which  he  coloured 
like  those  of  fishes  selected  at  the  market  for  their  bright 
hues.  The  work  which  ho  did  at  the  Academy  of  St.  Mark's 
was  of  a  sort  much  better  suited  to  his  ardent  spirit  than 
this.  Vasari  tells  us  that  the  "  loggia  "  opening  into  the  garden 
and  its  shady  walks  were  peopled  with  antique  and  modern 
marbles  from  the  collections  amassed  by  Cosmo  and  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici.*  The  so-called  "Madonna  delle  Scale"  at  the 
Casa  Buonarotti,  which  is  much  in  the  manner  of  Donatello,  and 
the  mai'ble  mask  of  a  Faun  at  the  Bargello,  which  is  a  copy  or 
an  imitation  of  an  antique  original,  show  that  at  this  time  Michel- 
angelo studied  the  works  of  the  quattro-centisti  as  well  as  those 
of  the  ancients.  The  mask  is  interesting,  if  only  for  the  story 
that  it  drew  Lorenzo  de'  Medici's  attention  to  the  young  sculp- 
tor, and  led  to  an  intercourse  which  ripened  into  friendship. 
When  invited  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the  palace  of  his  patron, 
Michelangelo  was  brought  into  daily  intercourse  with  Lorenzo 
and  the  distinguished  scholars  of  his  court*  and  in  their  society 
developed  that  love  of  poetry  and  philosophy  which  distin- 
guished him  through  life.  His  character  was  also  formed  during 
this  period  by  the  eloquent  voice  of  Savonarola.  As  he  listened 
in  the  Cathedral  to  the  reproaches  addressed  by  the  prophet 
monk  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  other  princes  who,  like  him, 
had  crushed  Italian  liberty  and  corrupted  Italian  hearts,  that 
love  of  country  awoke  within  him  which  long  after  led  him 
to  devote  himself  to  her  cause,  and  as  he  heard  the  earnest 
appeals  of  the  preacher  to  take  the  Bible  as  a  guide  to  truth, 
those  religious  instincts  were  roused  in  his  soul  which  after 
many  years  ripened  under  the  influence  of  Vittoria  Colonna  and 
made  him  not  only  almost,  but  altogether,  a  Christian. 

While  living  at  the  Medici  Palace,  Michelangelo,  under  the 
advice  of  Politian,  sculptured  a  bas-relief  of  the  battle  between 

*  For  an  acconrt  of  tlie  Medici  collections,  see  IjCS  Prccurseurs  de  la 
Renaissance,  par  M.  Eugene  Miintz.  Paris,  1882,  pp.  136-157  et  seq.  and 
p,  186,  where  he  cites  an  inventory,  published  after  the  death  of  Lorenzo,  of 
the  treasures  collected  in  the  Medici  Palace.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  statues 
in  the  gardens  of  St.  Mark.  Among  the  artists  who  studied  there  were 
Kustici,  Torrigiano,  Fr.  Granacci,  Niccolo  Soggi,  Bugiardini,  Lorenzo 
di  Credi,  Baccio  da  Montelupo,  Andrea  Sansovino,  and  Albertinelli. 


Michelangelo.  255 

Hevcnles  and  the  Centaurs,  now  at  the  Casa  Buonarotti,  in 
which  he  clearly  revealed  his  individuality.  Filled  with  an 
intricate  web  of  nude  forms  in  vigorous  action,  and  sculptured 
with  all  the  boldness  of  his  later  years,  it  seems  impossible 
that  it  can  be  the  work  of  a  boy  of  eighteen,  and  as  such  it  is  a 
marvel.  It  illustrates  one  of  the  most  striking  things  about 
Michelangelo's  beginnings  in  art,  that  stepping  at  once  upon 
his  own  ground,  he  began  as  he  was  to  go  on,  ignoring  the 
trammels  of  the  schools,  paying  no  attention  to.  architectural  or 
landscape  backgrounds,  not  busying  himself  with  the  realistic 
imitation  of  objects  around  him,  and  disdaining  to  make  a 
show  of  his  knowledge  of  perspective  although  he  understood 
it  like  an  Uccello  or  a  Mantegna,  or  a  parade  of  finish  although 
when  he  saw  fit  he  could  give  as  smooth  a  surface  to  marble  or 
canvas  as  any  artist  of  his  time.  From  the  first  he  recognized 
the  human  form  as  the  one  great  object  of  study,  and  strove  to 
represent  it  in  every  possible  and,  we  had  almost  said, 
impossible  attitude.  He  shared  with  Winckelmann  the  Greek 
feeling  that  "  the  highest  object  of  art  for  thinking  men  is 
man,"  and  with  this  conviction,  planted  his  midnight  torch  in 
the  breast  of  a  corpse,  and  pursued  his  investigations  until 
he  had  mastered  all  the  springs  of  action  and  could  work  them 
at  will. 

It  was  by  such  studies  that  Michelangelo  sought  to  alleviate 
his  deep  grief  for  the  death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  (April  8, 
1492).*  He  was  enabled  to  pursue  them  though  the  kindness 
of  his  friend  the  prior  of  Santo  Spirito,  who  gave  him  a  cell  in 
the  convent,  where,  by  dissecting  dead  bodies  obtained  from 
the  neighbouring  hospital,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  that  won- 
derful knowledge  in  which  he  has  had  few  equals. 

Lonelyf  and  dispirited  he  lived  at  his  father's  house,  until 

*  In  sculpture  he  was  not  altogether  inactive  at  this  time.  He  had  a 
stndio  in  his  father's  house,  and  there  made  a  statue  of  Hercules,  which 
was  bought  by  Giambatista  delta  Palla  for  Francis  I.  in  1529.  Henry  V. 
placed  it  in  the  garden  park  at  Fontainebleau  in  1594,  where  it  remained 
until  1713,  when  the  garden  was  destroyed.  "What  became  of  it  after  this 
time  is  not  known. 

f  Among  the  artists  of  his  own  age  Granacci  seems  to  have  been  his 
one  friend.  At  the  Gardens  of  St.  !Mark  he  soon  quarrelled  with  his 
fellow-pupil  Torrigiano,  and  when  they  worked  together  at  the  Carmine 
he  received  a  crushing  blow  in  the  face  from  this  ill-tempered,  second-rate 


256     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

Piero  de'  Medici  induced  him  to  return  to  the  Medici  Palace, 
where  he  treated  him  as  a  hired  servant,  and  employed  him  to 
build  up  a  snow  statue  in  his  courtyard,  fit  emblem  of  the 
then  unstable  and  crumbling  fortunes  of  his  house  (January  20, 
1494).*  Michelangelo's  sense  of  obligation  to  Lorenzo  recon- 
ciled him  at  first  to  his  position,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  hold  it  long  under  such  a  representative  of  the  family.  The 
only  way  for  him  to  shake  himself  free  of  Piero  was  to  quit 
Florence,  but  to  do  so  at  this  moment  was  no  light  matter  for 
iffa.  honourable  man,  as  it  was  to  fly  before  a  danger  which 
every  loyal  adherent  of  the  family  was  called  upon  to  share. 

In  August,  1494,  the  Alps  were  black  with  the  gathering 
masses  of  the  French  army  which  Charles  VIII.  was  leading 
into  Italy  at  the  invitation  of  Ludovico  Sforza,  with  the  avowed 
object  of  seizing  upon  the  crown  of  Naples,  which  he  claimed 
as  the  rightful  heir  of  the  house  of  Anjou.  Florence  stood  in 
the  invader's  path,  and  as  the  liberals  within  her  walls,  with 
Savonarola  at  their  head,  looked  to  Charles  to  deliver  them 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  Medici,  it  was  .a  foregone  conclusion 
that  Piero  would  be  driven  into  exile.  We  may  suppose. that 
Michelangelo  reconciled  his  conscience  to  the  step  he  was 
about  to  take,  by  reasoning  that  to  wait  for  the  catastrophe 
would  be  worse  than  to  depart  before  it  happened,  since  he 
would  then  be  obliged  to  fly  with  the  man  whom  he  despised. 
This  would  set  him  in  a  bad  light  before  his  fellow-citizens,  a 
result   he  wished  to  avoid,  as  he  fully  sympathized  with  the 

sculptor  and  braggadocio  which  disfigured  him  for  life.  See  p.  248. 
With  the  older  artists,  the  acknowledged  masters  of  the  time,  he 
sympathized  but  little.  He  did  not  appreciate  the  works  of  Lorenzo  di 
Credi,  never  had  any  friendly  relations  with  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  who 
became  his  rival  after  ho  returned  from  Milan,  and  had  a  contempt  for 
Pietro  Perugino,  whom  he  must  have  had  frequent  opportunities  of  know- 
ing during  their  common  residence  at  Florence. 

*  It  is  generally  said  that  the  snow  statue  was  the  only  commission 
given  by  Piero  to  Michelangelo.  This  is  not  so,  for  in  a  letter  to  his 
father  from  Rome,  dated  August  19,  1497,  Michelangelo  refers  to  a  com- 
mission for  a  statue  for  Piero,  which  he  had  never  begun  because  pro- 
mises made  to  him  had  never  been  kept.  "  Now,"  he  says,  "  I  have  boiight 
a  piece  of  marble  and  am  cutting  out  a  figure  for  my  own  pleasure."  This 
was  perhaps  the  Cupid  bought  (with  the  Bacchus)  by  Jacopo  Gallo, 
which  became  the  property  of  the  Duchess  of  Mantua,  and  is  now  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  ni.  ]\Iantua.     See  Milanesi.  Lettere.  vol.  ii.  r.  4. 


Michelangelo.  257 

popular  party  to  ^vllicll,  if  be  awaited  the  moment  of  its 
triumph,  he  would  not  be  able  to  adhere  openly  without 
appearing  to  be  a  traitor  to  the  memory  of  his  benefactor. 
Nothing,  then,  remained  for  him  but  to  leave  Florence 
while  Piero  still  weakly  held  the  reins  of  power.  Having 
arrived  at  this  conclusion,  he  went  for  a  short  time  to  Venice, 
and  thence  returned  to  Bologna,  where  Piero  de'  Medici  had 
already  taken  refuge  to  the  great  dissatisfaction  of  the  Bolognese. 
The  city  was  so  agitated,  and  the  general  condition  of  Italy  so 
unsettled,  that  a  law  had  been  lately  made  by  which  any 
stranger  entering  or  leaving  the  gates  without  having  a  seal  of 
red  wax  upon  his  thumb-nail,  by  which  he  could  be  recognized 
as  such,  had  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  francs  or  go  to  prison. 
Having  neglected  the  required  formality  and  being  unable  to 
pay  the  fine,  Michelangelo  would  have  been  imprisoned  had 
not  a  counterpart  of  the  good  Samaritan  in  the  person  of  a 
magistrate,  named  Gian  Francesco  Aldovrandi,  happening  to 
pass  by  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  about  to  be  led 
away,  inquired  his  name  and  circumstances,  ordered  him  to  be 
set  free,  and  given  him  shelter  in  his  own  house.  This  act  of 
kindness  proved  mutually  beneficial,  for  while  on  the  one  hand 
Michelangelo  gained  a  home  and  a  friend,  his  host  secured  the 
society  of  a  man  of  rare  genius,  who  talked  admirably  upon 
many  subjects,  and  read  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  aloud 
to  him  with  rare  expression  and  deep  appreciation.  While 
thus  engaged,  Michelangelo  may  have  forgotten  his  sorrows 
and  uncertainties,  but  there  were  doubtless  many  hours  when 
they  pressed  heavily  upon  him,  and  as  he  could  not  return  to 
Florence  until  political  matters  had  assumed  a  more  definite 
shape,  he  gladly  accepted  a  commission  from  the  monks  of 
St.  Domenic  to  finish  a  statuette  of  St.  Petronius  for  the 
monumental  altar  of  the  titular  saint,  and  to  sculpture  a 
kneeling  angel  holding  a  candelabrum  for  the  altar-table.* 

This  was  one  of  the  two  included  in  the  contract  made  with 
Niccola  da  Bari  in  1464.  That  he  may  have  sculptured  neither 
of  them  is  possible,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  can  have  made 
but  one,  as  in  1494  Michelangelo  was  commissioned  to  mako 
the  other.  Of  those  upon  the  altar  table,  the  one  to  the  left 
has  until  recently  been  supposed  to  be  his  work,  but  as  it  is 

*  (See  chapter  i.  p.  18. 

8 


258     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculptui^e, 

not  at  all  Miclielangelesque,  and  the  other  is  decidedly  so,  this 
conclusion  has  been  disputed,  with  no  little  show  of  reason.* 
We  should  consider  the  question  settled  could  it  be  proved 
that  Niccola  dell'  Area  sculptured  either,  for  in  this  case 
his  must  be  the  one  to  the  left.  If  he  did  not,  then  it  is 
perfectly  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Michelangelo  who,  as  he 
proved  by  the  Madonna  delle  Scale  at  the  Casa  Buonarroti, 
could  imitate  the  manner  of  the  quattro-centisti  when  he 
pleased,  did  so  here  in  order  to  make  his  work  harmonize  with 
the  rest  of  the  monument.  If  we  are  right  in  this  conjecture, 
we  may  conclude  that  the  angel  to  the  right,  on  the  evangelist 
side  of  the  altar,  was  sculptured  by  an  artist  bred  in  Michel- 
angelo's school,  to  which  it  manifestly  belongs.  This  may  have 
happened  in  1532,  when,  as  we  know  from  an  entry  in  the 
convent  archives,  a  sum  of  money  was  paid  to  some  person 
not  mentioned  "  ad  perficiendum  Arcam  S.  Domenici."  The 
heavy  draperies  of  the  angel  to  the  left  furnish  further  ground 
for  ascribing  it  to  Michelangelo,  as  they  resemble  those  of 
Giacomo  della  Quercia  (1425-1433),  whose  bas-reliefs  upon  the 
doors  of  the  basilica  of  St.  Petronius  Michelangelo  undoubtedly 
studied  during  his  residence  at  Bologna. f 

On  his  return  to  Florence,  he  found  the  city  at  peace  under 
a  comparatively  stable  republican  government,  and  as  Lorenzo 
and  Giovanni,  the  sons  of  Pier  Francesco  de'  Medici,  had 
given  in  their  allegiance  to  the  new  order  of  things,  he 
could  call  himself  a  rei^ublican  without  any  appearance  of 
ingratitude  to  their  family.  The  popular  party  was,  however, 
slow  to  believe  in  the  liberalism  of  those  who,  like  Michelangelo, 
maintained  friendly  relations  with  the  present  representatives  of 
the  family,  for  though  they  called  themselves  "  Popolani  "  their 
adherence  to  the  Republic  was  evidently  a  mere  matter  of  policy. 
In  his  case  these  relations  were  perfectly  natural,  as  while 

*  Raphael  und  Michelangelo,  von  Anton  Springer,  p.  12,  and  second  part, 
p.  492. 

f  Vasari  and  Condivi  both  say  that  Michelangelo  stayed  at  Bologna 
more  than  a  year ;  but  M.  de  Montaiglou,  in  his  biography  of  Michel- 
angelo {Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,  January  1,  1876),  shows  that  he  was 
one  of  the  persons  consulted  about  the  construction  of  the  great  Council 
Hall  in  the  Palace  of  the  Signory  at  Florence,  with  which  Cronaca  was 
charged  nn  the  15th  of  July,  1495,  he  must  have  returned  home  earlier 
than  has  been  hitherto  supposed. 


]\Iichclangelo.  259 

Lorenzo,  who  had  inherited  the  artistic  and  literary  tastes  of 
his  namesake,  "II  Magnifico,"  was  drawn  towards  Michel- 
angelo, the  latter  was  equally  impelled  by  the  unforgotten  past, 
and  the  hope  of  favours  to  come,  to  welcome  his  advances. 
In  this  hope  he  was  not  disappointed,  for  Lorenzo  not  only 
aided  him  in  obtaining  work,  which  in  the  low  state  of  his 
funds  was  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  him,  but  himself 
purchased  a  statue,  of  which  until  a  few  years  back  all  trace 
was  lost. 

In  1875,  on  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  Michelangelo's 
birth,  all  his  works  were  exhibited  at  Florence,  either  in 
marble  or  plaster,  and  among  the  casts,  one  of  a  statue  belong- 
ing to  Count  Eossellmini  Gualandi  at  Pisa,  which  had  hitherto 
passed  as  by  Donatello  or  Civitali,  was  pronounced  by  many 
competent  judges  to  be  the  long-lost  St.  John  the  Baptist  made 
by  Michelangelo  for  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  Since  that  time  the 
marble  has  been  purchased  for  the  Eoyal  Museum  at  Berlin, 
and  its  authenticity  is  now  very  generally  acknowledged. 
It  represents  a  youth  of  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of 
age,  with  a  sheep's  skin  about  his  loins,  in  the  act  of  raising 
to  his  open  mouth  a  small  goat's  horn  full  of  honey,  which  he 
has  pressed  from  the  honeycomb  in  his  right  hand.  To  our  eyes 
the  sculptor's  individuality  is  clearly  recognizable  in  it,  though 
softened  and  subdued  into  something  as  like  and  yet  as  unlike 
his  fully-developed  style  as  the  bud  is  to  the  flower.  Further- 
more, in  its  mingling  of  the  antique,  the  quattro-cento,  and  the 
Michelangclesque,  it  realizes  our  idea  of  a  work  sculptured  at  a 
transition  stage  when  the  manner  of  the  master  was  still  in  the 
process  of  formation.  In  the  gardens  of  St.  Mark,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  worked  in  the  manner  of  Donatello  and  also  counter- 
feited the  antique ;  at  Bologna,  if  the  kneeling  angel  long 
attributed  to  him  be  really  his,  he  adapted  his  work  to 
that  of  the  fifteenth  century  monument  to  which  it  was  to 
belong,  and  now  at  Florence  he  sculptured  the  St.  John  in  a 
style  like  that  of  his  predecessors,  and  in  his  Sleeping  Cupid* 
counterfeited  the    antique    so   successfully    that  when,  by  the 

*  Gotti  (op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  15)  says  that  the  Cupid  afterwards  came  into 
the  possession  of  Duke  Valentino,  who  gave  it  to  Isabella,  Marchioness 
of  Mantua.  It  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Museum  at  Mantua.  See  Gaye's 
Carteggio,  vol.  ii.  pp.  63,  54. 

s2 


26o     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sctdpttire. 

advice  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  it  had  been  buried  at  Rome  and 
was  oflered  for  sale  b}'  a  Milanese  dealer  named  Baldassare 
as  a  genuine  ancient  work,  it  found  a  purchaser  as  such  for  200 
ducats,  in  the  Cardinal  di  San  Giorgio.  The  discovery  of  the 
fraud,  and  the  attempt  made  by  the  dealer  to  cheat  Michel- 
angelo out  of  the  purchase-money,  led  to  his  first  visit  to 
Rome,  where  he  arrived  on  the  13th  June,  1496,  and  Avaited 
on  his  Eminence,  who  so  far  from  bearing  any  ill-will  towards 
him,  received  him  kindl}',  and  gave  him  a  commission  for  a 
Btatue  which  he  immediately  began.* 

Flattered  by  the  Cardinal's  reception,  and  sensible  of  the 
superior  advantages  of  Rome  as  a  residence,  Michelangelo 
remained  there  for  four  years,  during  which  time  he  pro- 
duced two  works  of  an  extremely  opposite  character,  one  of 
which,  the  famous  Pieta  at  St.  Peter's,  may  be  considered 
as  an  expression  of  the  religious  feelings  which  had  been 
awakened  in  him  by  Savonarola,  and  the  other,  the  Bacchus 
of  the  Uffizi,  which  he  sculptured  for  Jacojio  Gallo,  as  a 
typical  representation  of  the  life  which  surrounded  him  at 
Rome,  then  ruled  by  Alexander  VI. f  Between  the  group 
and  the  statue  there  is  that  wide  gap  which  separates  the 
noble  from  the  ignoble.  The  Bacchus,  a  drunken  youth 
with  a  wine-cup  in  one  hand  and  a  bunch  of  grapes  in  the 
other  from  which  a  little  satyr  is  stealthily  regaling  himself, 
embodies  the  vulgar  idea  of  the  god  of  wine,  who  differs 
from  the  inspired  Dionysos  as  the  Venus  Pandemos  from  the 
Venus  Urania,  and  scantily  atones  for  its  want  of  ideality  by 
skilful  modelling  and  anatomic  correctness.  We  can  only 
excuse  Michelangelo  for  selecting  such  a  subject  by  supposing 
that  he  consulted  the  taste  of  his  employer  rather  than  his 
own.  In  the  Pieta,  on  the  contrary,  we  may  believe  that  he 
found  a  theme  congenial  to  his  raind.t 

*  In  a  letter  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  dated  July  2,  1496  (see  Milanesi, 
p.  375),  Michelangelo  speaks  of  his  having  bought  a  piece  of  marble 
for  a  statue  ordered  by  the  Cardinal,  and  in  another  letter  to  his  father 
says  that  he  is  waiting  to  leave  Rome  till  he  is  paid  for  it,  "  for  in  deal- 
ing with  snch  great  people  '  bisogna  andare  adagio.'  " 

t  Vasari  (vol.  xii.  p.  169)  says  that  his  first  Roman  work  was  a  cartoon 
of  St.  Francis  receiving  the  Stigmata,  for  the  Cardinal  di  San  Giorgio's 
barber,  who  was  himself  an  artist. 

X  Sculptured  for  Jean  de  Groslaye  de  Villiers,  Cardinal  de  St.  Denia 


Michdan^rdo.  261 


"i 


He  must  have  often  wandered  under  the  vast  roof  of  the 
venerable  basilica,  so  rich  in  associations  with  the  purer  ages 
of  the  Church,  and  so  full  of  tombs  of  great  and  good  men  of 
past  times,  whose  faith  was  a  standing  reproach  to  the  scan- 
dalous unbelief  of  those  in  which  his  lot  was  cast.  Impressed 
with  the  religio  loci,  and  proud  to  think  that  a  work  from  his 
hand  was  to  be  placed  within  the  walls  of  this  central  edifice  of 
Christendom,  he  determined  to  make  his  Pieta  worthy  of  it, 
never  dreaming  that  it  was  to  be  the  first  stone  of  the  new 
temple  which  he  was  destined  to  raise  upon  the  ruins  of  tho 
old. 

It  represents  the  mother  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind  gazing 
upon  the  mortal  remains  of  Him  who  is  Himself  the  spring 
of  life,  the  fountain  of  faith  in  things  unseen.  Her  chief 
office  in  art  at  all  periods  is  to  show  her  divine  son  to  the 
world.  While  He  is  yet  a  child  He  sits  enthroned  upon  her 
arm,  or  stands  erect  upon  her  lap  like  a  statue  upon  its  pedestal ; 
and  when  he  has  grown  to  manhood  and  has  consummated  the 
mighty  sacrifice  which  He  came  on  earth  to  make,  she  lays 
Him  reverently  across  her  knees,  and  sits  in  calm  dignity,  that 
all  may  behold  the  body  of  Him  who  died  that  they  might 
live. 

Here,  more  completely  than  in  any  other  work  of  modern 
sculpture,  art  and  Christianity  are  allied  ;  here  alone,  among 
the  plastic  works  of  Michelangelo,  is  evidence  of  that  religious 
spirit  which  found  frequent  expression  in  his  sonnets.  In  his 
sublime  frescos  at  the  Sistine  Chapel  he  is  a  historian  of  sacred 
things,  who  rises  to  the  lofty  height  of  the  inspired  Hebrew 
writers  in  his  own  peculiar  language,  but  he  is  not,  from  the 
nature  of  the  subjects  with  which  he  there  dealt,  what  he  is  in 
his  Pieta — an  exponent,  through  form,  of  the  gospel  spirit  of 
absolute  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  whose  type  is  the 
prostrate  figure  of  the  dead  Christ.  In  his  sculptured  Holy 
Families  and  Madonnas  there  is  no  show  of  Christian  fervour ; 
still  less  in  his  mannered  and  unmeaning  statue  of  Christ  at 

and  Ambassador  of  Charles  VIII.,  between  1499  and  1500,  who  placed  it 
in  the  chapel  of  the  kings  of  France  dedicated  to  St.  Petronilla,  at  St. 
Peter's.  The  contract  bears  date  August,  1498.  It  is  given  by  Gotti  in 
his  second  volume,  02:*.  cit.  p.  33,  The  price  agreed  upon  was  four  hundred 
and  fifty  ducats. 


262     Histoi'ical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

the  Minerva ;  but  little  in  his  half-finished  groups  of  the 
Deposition  at  Rome,  Palestrina,  and  Florence  ;  or  in  the  bas- 
relief  at  the  Albergo  dei  Poveri  at  Genoa.  Considering  how 
truly  religious  he  was,  it  seems  strange  that  such  slight  trace 
of  it  is  to  be  found  in  that  art  which,  as  he  loved  it  most, 
would,  we  should  have  supposed,  have  been  that  in  which  his 
deepest  feelings  would  have  found  expression. 

Harmoniously  composed,  the  lines  of  the  Pieta  combine 
admirably  from  every  point  of  view,  and  the  inner  harmony  of 
its  parts  with  each  other  is  no  less  remarkable  than  that  which 
they  bear  to  the  whole.  What  the  Greeks  call  "  iraOos,'"  that 
is,  a  unity  of  feeling  running  through  the  whole  body  of  the 
dead  Christ,  is  wonderfully  rendered.  The  drooping  head,  the 
fallen  arm,  and  the  helpless  hanging  of  the  feet  all  tell  of 
death  which  has  not  yet  stiffened  the  limbs  or  robbed  them  of 
their  suppleness. 

Sculptured  in  the  very  last  years  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
this  group  stands  like  a  boundary-stone  on  the  extreme  limits  of 
the  quattro-cento.  Its  devotional  spirit  marks  its  connection 
with  the  art  of  the  past,  as  its  anatomical  precision  and 
masterly  treatment  connect  it  with  that  of  the  future,  and  with 
it  the  first  period  of  Michelangelo's  development  ends.  Ihe 
curtain  falls  on  Piome,  and  the  scene  opens  with  the  new 
century  at  Florence,  to  which  he  returned,  after  an  absence  of 
four  years,  to  begin  a  new  phase  of  his  life,  to  show  a  fresh 
development  of  his  genius,  and  to  engage  in  a  world-renowned 
contest  with  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  who,  after  a  nineteeen  years' 
residence  at  Milan,  had  just  returned  to  the  banks  of  the  Arno. 

The  cartoons  prepared  by  the  two  masters  for  the  never 
executed  frescos  in  the  Hall  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  were 
masterpieces,  whose  destruction  we  can  never  sufficiently 
regret.'""  Each  had  selected  a  theme  calculated  to  display 
his  peculiar  powers.  Lionardo,  who  was  an  accomplished 
horseman  and  thoroughly  conversant  with  equine  anatomy, 
had   taken    a  moment  of    struggle  in    the   midst   of   battle ; 

*  For  several  years  the  rival  works  hung  side  by  side  in  the  great  hall 
of  the  Pahizzo  Vecchio,  where  that  of  Michelangelo  was  maliciously  cut 
to  ]jit'ces  during  a  popular  tumult  in  1512.  Vasari  (vol.  x.  p.  296)  accuses 
Eaccio  Biindinelli  of  this  dastardly  act.  There  is,  however,  no  proof  of 
his  guilt,  and  for  reasons  given  we  are  inclined  to  believe  him  innocent. 


Michelangelo*  263 

TvMle  Michelangelo,  knowing  that  his  greatest  strength  lay 
in  the  treatment  of  the  nude,  had  rejDresented  a  numher 
of  soldiers  suddenly  summoned  to  the  fight  by  the  sound 
of  the  trumpet  whilst  bathing  in  the  Arno.  Some  were  in 
the  act  of  climbing  the  steep  bank  of  the  river ;  others  who 
had  already  gained  it  were  endeavouring  to  clothe  their  dripping 
limbs.  Beyond  them,  either  outlined  upon  the  canvas  or 
finished  in  black  and  white,  were  groups  of  men  in  every  variety 
of  attitude,  standing,  kneeling,  lying,  struggling. 

In  strict  chronological  order,  we  should  have  mentioned 
this  cartoon  after  the  David,  which  Michelangelo  began  in 
September,  1501,  and  completed  in  January,  1504.  This 
celebrated  statue  must  be  judged  with  reference  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  made  out  of  a  piece  of  marble  which  had  been 
BO  much  cut  away  by  an  incompetent  sculptor  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  that  no  one  less  confident  in  his  own  powers  than 
Michelangelo  would  have  consented  to  try  his  hand  upon  it. 
To  other  artists  the  long  thin  block  lying  in  the  pffice  of  Works 
of  the  Cathedral  was  meaningless ;  to  him  it  suggested  the 
form  of  a  shepherd  boy  who,  like  one  of  the  younglings  of 
his  flock,  was  at  that  awkward  age  when  the  limbs  are  not 
symmetrically  developed.  So  he  made  a  small  wax  model,  still 
preserved  in  the  Casa  Buonarroti,  and  then,  shutting  himself 
out  from  curious  eyes,  rained  sturdy  blows  upon  the  mutilated 
marble  until  it  took  the  shape  with  w'hich  all  who  have  been  at 
Florence  are  so  familiar.*  Admiration  at  the  feat  performed 
combined  with  the  real  merit  of  the  statue  to  rouse  popular 
enthusiasm,  and  the  artists  and  connoisseurs  who  were  called 
upon  to  say  where  it  should  be  placed  decided,  probably  by 
Michelangelo's  own  advice,  to  remove  Donatello's  bronze  group 
of  Judith  and  Holofernes  from  the  terrace  of  the  Palazzo 
Vecchio  to  the  Loggia  de'  Lanzi  in  order  to  make  room  for  it. 
In  placing  this  image  of  one  who  had  courageously  saved  a 
people  whom  he  afterwards  wisely  governed,  at  the  door  of  the 
palace  of  the  Signory,  the  Florentines  wished  perpetually  to 
remind  the  city  magistrates  of  their  duty  to  the  people. f 

Although  the  distance  from  the  Duomo  to  the  Palace,  over 

*  It  was  set  up  on  the  8tli  of  June,  1504. 

f  That   jMichelangelo   also    had    this  ia    his  mind  is  very  plausibly 
suggested  by  M.  de  Montaiglon,  op.  ciU 


264     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidptnre. 

which  the  David  had  to  be  conveyed,  was  only  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  five  days  (14th  to  18th  of  May)  were  consumed  in 
the  operation  of  moving  it  upon  a  ponderous  machine  dragged 
by  forty  men.  Stones  were  thrown  at  it  by  riotous  people,  and 
the  guards  were  attacked,  but  their  animosity  ceased  after  it 
reached  its  destination.  In  1527  the  arm  was  accidentally 
broken,*  but  from  that  time  up  to  1873,  when  it  was  removed 
to  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  this  tutelary  genius  of  Florence 
kept  its  place  unharmed,  save  by  wind  and  weather,  until  it 
had  become  as  much  identified  with  the  Square  over  which  it 
presided  as  the  Palazzo  Yecchio  and  the  Loggia  de'  Lanzi.f 

The  incomplete  condition  of  many  of  the  works  which 
Michelangelo  executed  at  Florence  before  he  bent  liis  neck  to 
the  papal  yoke,  shows  us  both  the  impetuosity  of  his  spirit  and 
his  unlimited  belief  in  his  own  possibilities  of  work.  Not 
recognizing  limitations  of  time,  strength,  or  material,  he 
accepted  more  commissions  than  a  dozen  sculptors  could 
have  executed,  and  working  with  a  conviction  that  he  could 
accomplish  whatever  his  will  led  him  to  undertake,  he  com- 
menced with  the  St.  Matthew  at  the  Academy  that  long  series 
of  unfinished  works  which  stand  like  milestones  along  his  path 
from  the  year  1500  until  his  death  in  1567.  When  we  look  at 
these  marbles,  whose  grandeur  is  that  of  such  semi-defined 
shapes  as  are  formed  by  clouds  and  vapours,  and  whose  impres- 
siveness,  like  that  of  the  ancient  oracles,  is  in  some  degree 
owing  to  their  vagueness  of  meaning  and  consequently  multiple 
possibilities  of  interpretation,  we  are  tempted  to  believe  that 
Michelangelo  made  use  of  the  undefined  with  deliberate 
purpose,  laying  down  his  chisel  after  he  had  blocked   out  a 

*  During  tbe  tumults  -which  agitated  the  city  at  this  time  a  band  of 
rioters  attacked  the  pahice.  Some  one,  in  order  to  repel  them,  threw  a 
piece  of  furniture  out  of  a  window,  which  fell  upon  the  arm  of  the  David 
and  broke  it  into  three  pieces.  They  were  picked  up  by  Francesco 
Salviati  and  Vasari,  then  young  men,  and  taken  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Duke  Cosimo  I.  had  them  restored. 

t  Michelangelo  modelled  another  statue  of  David  of  life-size  for 
Soderini.  It  was  cast  in  bronze  and  presented  by  the  Signory  of  Florence 
to  Florimond  de  Eobertet,  treasurer  to  Louis  XII.,  king  of  France. 
Having  been  sent  to  that  country  in  1508,  it  was  set  up  at  Robertet's 
Chateau  de  Bury.  In  1650  it  was  removed  to  the  Chateau  de  Yillary, 
after  which  nothing;  is  koowu  of  its  fate. 


MichclaiKTclo.  2  6  - 


'<b 


figure,  because  he  knew  that  every  new  stroke  would  diminish 
its  effect.  But  even  without  attributing  their  unfinished  state 
to  press  of  otlier  work,  or  to  sudden  weariness  of  one  idea 
under  the  charm  of  a  new  inspiration,  or  to  intention,  it  is 
evident  in  many  cases  that  he  had  committed  irretrievable 
mistakes  through  the  impetuosity  of  his  attack  upon  the 
marble  block,  which  left  him  no  choice  in  the  matter.  Cut 
away  until  it  could  no  longer  hold  his  thought,  he  threw  it 
aside  like  a  manuscript,  which  through  manifold  corrections  and 
erasures  had  become  illegible. 

"  Disdaining  the  ordinary  methods  of  the  sculptor,  he  made 
no  plaster  model,  nor  did  he  fix  the  three  points  of  length, 
width,  and  depth,  according  to  the  system  of  execution 
practised  in  his  day,  of  which  he  took  no  heed.  When  his 
sketch  was  finished  he  placed  it  before  him,  side  b}^  side  with 
the  block  of  marble  and  the  living  model ;  he  then  sought  the 
extreme  points  of  his  composition,  and  having  found  them 
fixed  his  attention  upon  the  marble  which  concealed  his  statue 
from  him.  Then,  after  tracing  the  principal  outlines  upon  it 
in  charcoal,  he  attacked  the  block  with  violence,  dealing  blow 
after  blow  so  as  to  strike  away  the  superfluous  matter.  The 
fragments  flew  in  showers  with  the  sound  of  hail  driven  by  the 
wind ;   the  point  struck  sparks  from  the  stone ;   blow  succeeded 

blow It  seemed  as  if  the  hot   and  rapid  breathing  of 

the  artist  infused  the  first  breath  of  life  into  the  hard  material. 
As  by  degrees  the  marble  grew  in  the  likeness  of  his  thought 
his  ardour  increased,  and  his  idea  shone  with  a  brighter  light 
....  the  marble  seemed  to  feel  the  power  of  its  master."^ 
Often,  alas  !  we  may  add,  did  Michelangelo,  like  Saturn,  devour 
his  own  children,  leaving  them,  like  his  group  of  the 
Deposition  at  the  Palazzo  Fevoli,  but  shapeless  wrecks. 

The  above  vivid  description  does  not  apply  to  his  method  of 
working  at  that  earlier  time  when  he  sculptured  the  Pieta  at 
Rome  and  the  Madonna  and  Child  in  the  church  of  Notre 
Dame  at  Bruges.  These  show  that  he  at  first  proceeded  with 
caution.  They  are  equal  in  finish,  but  of  the  two  the  first  is 
so  superior  in  composition,  in  treatment,  in  mastery  over  detail, 

*  Dupre's  discourse  before  the  Florentine  Academy  in  Sejitember,  1875. 
Jja  l^azlonc,  September  17,  1875,  quoted,  by  M.  Guillaumo  in  his  Michel 
Ange,  Sculpteur,  G.  dcs  B.  Arts,  January  1,  1S7G. 


266     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpttire, 

and  in  correctness  of  proportion  that  we  are  inclined  to  belieye  it 
to  be  the  later  work.  The  constrained  pose  of  the  Madonna,  the 
disproportionate  length  of  her  neck,  and  the  shortness  of  her 
figure  from  the  waist  downwards,  betray  a  less  practised  eye 
and  hand  than  that  of  the  sculptor  of  the  Pieta,  but  theso 
defects  are  condoned  by  the  fine  arrangement  of  the  drapery, 
which  is  thoroughly  Michelangelesque,  the  modelling  and 
finish  of  the  hands,  the  sweet  and  virginal  expression  of  the 
face,  and  the  natural  and  pleasing  attitude  of  the  infant 
Saviour  who  leans  asfainst  the  Madonna's  knee.""' 

The  Madonna  at  Bruges  may  be  compared  with  two  un- 
finished circular  bas-reliefs  of  the  Holy  Family,  one  of  which, 
now  at  the  Bargello,  was  sculptured  for  Bartolomeo  Pitti ;  the 
other,  now  in  the  Pioyal  Academy,  for  Taddeo  Taddei,  one  of 
the  most  generous  patrons  of  art  and  literature  at  Florence. 
Excellent  in  composition,  and  remarkable  for  its  combined 
strength  and  sweetness  of  feeling,  the  Taddei  bas-relief  is  one 
of  Michelangelo's  most  pleasing  works.  The  Madonna  is  grace- 
ful and  sympathetic,  and  at  the  same  time  grand  in  style. 
By  her  side  the  Madonna  of  the  Tribune  is  hard  and  unin- 
teresting, the  Madonna  at  Bruges  a  little  cold  and  wanting  in 
feeling,  the  Madonna  of  the  National  Gallery  grandiose  but 
unmotherly,  and  the  Madonna  of  the  Pieta  impassive.  While 
working  upon  the  two  bas-reliefs,  the  statues  of  the  Apostles 
ordered  for  the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  and  those  of  fifteen 
Saints  for  the  Cardinal  Piccolomini's   family  chapel  at  Siena,-f* 

*  This  group  was  given  to  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  by  a  member  of 
the  Mouscron  family,  but  not,  as  generally  supposed,  by  Peter  Monscron, 
■who  was  1/Orn  in  1514,  died  in  1571,  and  lies  buried  under  the  altar  above 
which  it  is  placed.  A  letter  from  Barducci,  written  from  Rome  in  1506 
to  Michelangelo,  then  at  Carrara,  about  the  shipment  ot  one  of  his 
works,  not  specified,  via  Viareggio,  to  Flanders  for  the  heirs  of  John  and 
Alexander  Mouscron,  Gotti  (o^).  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  51)  proves  that  it  was  a 
group,  and  not  a  bronze  bas-relief,  which  two  Flemish  merchants  bought 
from  Michelangelo,  as  stated  both  by  Yasari  and  Condivi.  That  it  was 
this  marble  group  is  evident,  since  Albert  Diirer  speaks  of  having  seen 
it  in  the  church  in  1521.  It  is  also  spoken  of  as  there,  and  as  by  j\Iichel- 
angclo,  in  a  history  of  Belgium  written  in  1560. 

f  In  June,  loOl,  Michelangelo  signed  a  contract  with  the  Cardinal, 
afterwards  Pope  Pius  III.,  by  which  he  engaged  to  make  these  fifteen 
statues,  between  four  and  five  feet  in  height,  within  three  years.  A  new 
contract  was  made  on  the  death  of  the  Pope  in  1503,  after  a  pontificate 


Michelangelo.  '  267 

Miclielangelo  "svas  called  to  Eome  by  Popo  Julius  II.  and 
obeyed  the  summons  without  delay,  leaving  them  all  un- 
finished. 

His  first  interview  with  the  Pope  was  a  turning-point  in  his 
career,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that  he  carried  from  it  the  im- 
pression that  he  had  found  his  match  in  strength  of  will  and 
energy  of  character. 

Julius  was  a  man  of  war,  who  would  not  brook  the  slightest 
opposition  to  his  wishes.  When  men  stood  in  his  way  he  set 
his  foot  on  them,  and  when  cities  rebelled  against  him  he 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  in  triumphover  their  ruined  walls.* 
But  one  man  in  the  world,  so  far  as  we  know,  ever  dared  to 
oppose  him,  and  that  man  was  Michelangelo.  Sparks  will  fly 
when  flint  and  steel  are  bi'ought  into  contact,  and  had  they  not 
mutually  esteemed  each  other  they  would  have  soon  separated, 
but  as  vindictiveness  was  not  in  the  nature  of  either,  their 
frequent  quarrels  were  followed  by  reconciliations,  brought 
about  through  such  concessions  and  explanations  as  each  could 
make  without  undue  sacrifice  of  dignity. 

During  the  first  years  of  his  reign  (1503-1513)  Julius  II. 
had  little  time  to  give  to  anything  save  war,  but  after  the  final 
expulsion  of  the  French  from  Italy,  and  the  conclusion  of  a 
treaty  between  Louis  XII.  and  Ferdinand  of  Naples,  Caesar 
Borgia  and  Piero  de'  Medici  being  both  dead  and  the  succession 
to  the  Duchy  of  Urbino  secured  to  his  nephew,  Giuliano  della 
Eovere,  he  turned  his  attention  for  a  few  months  to  the 
arts  of  peace,  and  conceived  the  project  of  erecting  a  monu- 
ment to  himself  which  should  surpass  all  other  monuments 
in  size  and    splendour.      Michelangelo    was   commissioned  to 

of  twenty- seven  days,  under  which  the  time  was  prolonged  two  years. 
Four  were  then  finished,  namel}',  those  of  Saints  Peter,  Panl,  Pius,  and 
Gregory,  and  with  these  tlie  work  ended,  for  in  1537  we  find  that  the 
heirs  of  tlie  Pope  reclaimed  one  hundred  scudi  on  money  advanced  over 
and  above  the  value  of  work  done.  (Gotti,  vol.  i.  pp.  25,  26.)  There  are 
five  small  statues  of  Saints  Francis,  James,  Pius,  and  Gregory,  and  a 
Madonna  and  Child  in  the  Piccolomini  Chapel  in  the  Duomo  at  Siena. 
These  represent  the  result  of  the  Cardinal's  commission,  but  we  quite 
agree  with  the  annotators  of  Vasari  {Vrosfctto  Cronolorjxco,  vol.  xii. 
p.  388)  that  they  are  second-rate  works,  and  not  in  Hichelangelo's 
style. 

*  As  at  the  siege  of  La  Mirandula,  a.d.  150G, 


268     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scnlptn^'e. 

give  substance  to  this  great  scheme,  and  could  the  design 
■which  he  produced  have  been  carried  out  in  all  its  details, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  result  would  have  fully  satisfied 
the  ambition  of  its  projector.  As  no  part  of  the  basilica  of 
St.  Peter  was  capable  of  receiving  a  marble  structure  covering 
eight  hundred  square  feet,  and  consisting  of  three  storeys, 
the  lower  one  of  which  was  thirteen  feet  in  height,  the  question 
of  site  had  first  to  be  considered.  The  plan  suggested  and 
adopted  was  the  completion  of  the  new  Tribune  begun  by 
Pope  Nicholas  V.  (1447-1-155),  and  this  led  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  whole  church,  and  its  reconstruction  on  its  present 
magnificent  scale.  The  hand  of  the  destroyer,  once  raised, 
was  never  stayed  till  every  vestige  of  the  venerable  and  precious 
shrine  had  been  swept  away.  This  act  of  vandalism  was  not 
even  condoned  by  the  carrying  out  of  the  scheme  which  had 
prompted  it,  for  executed  only  in  part  by  Michelangelo,  the 
shrunken  monument  of  Pope  Julius  at  San  Pietro  in  Vincula 
responds  in  no  sense  either  to  the  ambition  of  the  Pontilf  or 
the  grand  conception  of  the  sculptor,  save  in  one  statue. 

The  descriptions  of  Vasari  and  Condivi,  and  a  pen-and-ink 
sketch  in  the  Casa  Buonarroti  at  Florence,  show  us  that  it  was 
to  have  been  an  immense  quadrangular  structure,  thirty-six  by 
twenty-seven  feet  at  the  base,  raised  upon  a  platform  reached 
by  steps.  The  lower  storey  was  to  have  been  decorated  with 
niches,  separated  by  terminal  figures  supporting  a  projecting 
cornice,  and  containing  statues  of  prisoners  naked  and  bound, 
symbolic  either  of  the  provinces  added  to  the  patrimony  of  tho 
church  by  Julius,  or  of  the  arts  and  sciences  rendered  powerless 
by  his  death.  Colossal  statues  of  Moses,  St.  Paul,  Piachel 
and  Leah  were  to  have  been  placed  above  the  cornice  at  the 
four  corners  of  the  flat  surface  of  the  monument,  whose  centre 
contained  the  papal  effigy  watched  over  by  the  angels  of  Grief 
and  Consolation.  This  effigy,  according  to  Vasari's  account, 
was  to  have  rested  upon  the  shoulders  of  two  figures  repre- 
senting Heaven  rejoicing  and  Earth  grieving  over  the  Pope's 
death.* 

Of  its  forty  statues,  and  its  multiple  bas-reliefs,  cornices, 

*  Vasari,  vol.  xii.  p.  181.  The  body  was  to  have  been  placed  in  a 
sarcophagus  within  an  oval  chamber  constructed  in  the  centre  of  the 
monument. 


Mi  chela  ngclo.  269 

and  mouldings  in  marble  and  bronze,  but  few  were  even 
commenced,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  come  to  speak  of  that 
later  period  of  Michelangelo's  life  to  which  they  belong. 

Within  four  months  of  his  first  interview  with  the  Pope, 
Michelangelo  started  for  Carrara,  where  he  spent  eight  months 
in  superintending  the  extraction  of  marbles,  in  blocking  out 
certain  figures  intended  for  this  monument,  and  in  planning  a 
colossal  work  like  that  j^roposed  by  Diuocrates  to  Alexander 
the  Great."  One  of  the  Carrara  mountain-peaks  was  to  be 
shaped  into  a  gigantic  figure,  which  could  be  seen  far  out  at 
sea,  but  what  it  was  to  have  represented  we  do  not  know. 
Anxious  to  return  home,  he  abandoned  the  idea  as  soon  as  he 
was  no  longer  needed  at  the  quarries,  and  after  spending  a  few 
days  at  Florence  continued  his  journey  to  Rome,  which  he 
reached  late  in  the  mouth  of  November. f 

His  one  desire  was  to  begin  the  monument  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  in  order  that  he  might  do  so  the  Pope  gave  him 
a  house  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Vatican, — too 
near,  as  it  proved,  for  a  long  continuance  of  their  friendly 
relations.  To  find  himself  subject  to  a  visit  from  Julius, 
whenever  the  whim  seized  him  to  cross  the  bridge  which  had 
been  built  between  the  Vatican  and  his  studio,  must  have  been 
intolerable  to  one  who  loved  privacy  and  was  unaccustomed  to 
work  under  supervision.  This  v/e  suspect  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  the  catastrophe  which  the  Pope  might  have  foreseen,  had  he 
known  the  nature  of  the  man  with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 
Michelangelo  does  not,  however,  allude  to  it  in  the  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  Giuliano  di  Sangallo  after  he  reached 
Florence,  the  following  extract  from  which  shows,  among  other 
things,  that  the  Pope  had  begun  to  count  the  cost  of  those 
great  blocks  of  marble  lying  in  the  square  behind  St.  Peter's, 
"whose  number  seemed  to  the  people  sufficient  for  the  building 
of  a  temple  rather  than  a  tomb." 

"  Talking  at  table  with  a  jeweller  and  a  master  of  the 
ceremonies,  I  heard  that  the  Pope  had  said  that  he  would 
not  spend  another  bajocco  upon  big  stones  or  little  stones. 
Astonished  at  this,  I  determined  before  leaving  Piome  to  ask 
for  a  part   of  the   money  needed  for   the   continuation   of  my 

*  This  architect  wished  to  fashion  Mount  Athos  into  a  statue. 
f  Coudivi,  01^.  cit.  p.  18. 


270     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidptnre. 

work.  When  I  did  so,  his  Holiness  sent  me  word  to  come 
again  on  Monday,  and  so  I  did,  and  also  on  Tuesday,  Wednes- 
day, and  Thursday.  At  last  on  Friday  the  door  was  shut  in 
my  face  by  an  attendant  who  said  that  he  knew  me  very  well, 

but  that  he  must  obey  orders This,  however,  was  not 

the  only  cause  of  my  departure  ;  there  was  also  another  reason, 
which  I  do  not  wish  to  mention."  *  This  reason  doubtless  was 
that  Julius  had  changed  his  mind  about  the  monument,  and 
had  projiosed  to  Michelangelo  to  decorate  the  Sistine  Chapel 
with  frescos.  Both  Vasari  and  Condivi  tell  us  that  this  was 
brought  about  by  Bramante,  with  the  desire  to  ruin  Michel- 
angelo and  thus  bring  Piaphael  forward.  They  say  that  he  told 
his  Holiness  that  he  would  hasten  his  death  by  building  his 
own  monument,  f  and  advised  him  to  employ  Michelangelo  to 
paint  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  hoping  that  he  would 
fail  in  the  attempt  and  thereby  lose  all  favour  at  the  Vatican. 
From  these  charges  Bramante  cannot  be  altogether  exonerated, 
for  it  is  evident  that  he  had  some  hand  in  the  matter,  from  the 
testimony  of  Pietro  Roselli,  who,  writing  to  IMichelangelo,  tells 
him  that  Bramante,  being  told  by  the  Pope  in  his  presence  that 
Sangallo  was  to  be  sent  to  Florence  to  bring  him  back,  replied, 
*'  It  will  be  of  no  use,  for  I  have  heard  him  say  several  times 
that  he  would  not  paint  the  chapel  as  the  Pope  had  ordered 
him  to  do,"  adding,  ''In  my  opinion  Michelangelo  is  afraid  to 
try  his  hand  at  a  work  which  is  out  of  his  line."  "  This," 
writes  Roselli,  "  I  denied,  and  told  the  Pope  that  I  would  stake 
my  head  that  you  had  never  said  a  word  to  Bramante  on  the 
subject."  It  is  clear  that,  for  some  reason  or  other,  Bramante 
placed  himself  in  Michelangelo's  way,  prevented  him  from 
doing  what  he  had  set  his  heart  upon,  and  turned  his  powers 
in  a  direction  in  which  most  men  would  have  said  they  were 
likely  to  be  wasted.  If  this  was  his  object  we  cannot  cha- 
racterize his  spirit  as  other  than  malignant,  and  yet  we  have 
reason  to  be  grateful  to  him,  for  had  he  done  otherwise  tho 

*  Letter  cccxliii.,  Milanesi,  op.  cit.  p.  377. 

f  Michelangelo  undoubtedly  alludes  to  the  Pope's  acceptance  of  this 
idea,  and  his  subsequent  change  of  plan,  in  the  lines  of  a  sonnet  addressed 
to  him, — 

*'  Lo,  thou  hast  lent  thine  ear  to  fables  still, 
Rewarding  those  who  hate  the  name  of  truth." 


]\Iichelangclo.  271 

world  would  have  lost  the  sublime  frescos  of  the  Sistine  Chapel 
ceiling,  fov  which  the  monument  to  Julius  would  have  been  but 
a  poor  compensation. 

It  was  on  a  Saturday  in  the  month  of  May,  150G,  that 
Michelangelo,  who  had  paid  for  the  last  shipment  of  marbles 
from  Carrara  out  of  his  own  pocket,  took  the  road  to  Florence, 
angry  at  the  ill-treatment  which  he  had  received,  and  fully 
determined  henceforward  to  leave  the  Pope  to  shift  for  him- 
self. Pursued  and  overtaken  by  a  messenger  who  used  every 
argument  to  induce  him  to  return,  he  kept  on  his  way,  and  it 
was  perhaps  well  for  him  that  Julius  had  other  rebels  to  deal 
with,  and  plans  for  their  reduction  to  turn  over  in  his  mind 
while  his  anger  was  at  white  heat,  else  the  towers  of  Florence, 
like  those  of  Perugia  and  Bologna,  might  have  shaken  with 
the  sound  of  his  cannon.  His  demands  that  the  fugitive 
should  be  immediately  sent  back  were  so  imperious,  and  his 
menaces  so  violent,  that  Soderini  was  really  alarmed  as  to  the 
consequences  of  delayed  compliance.  "You  have  dared,"  he 
said  to  Michelangelo,  "to  treat  the  Pope  in  a  way  the  king 
of  France  would  not  have  done,  and  as  we  are  not  inclined 
to  risk  our  independence  and  go  to  war  on  your  account,  you 
had  better  make  up  your  mind  to  obey."*'  Answering  one  of 
the  papal  briefs  on  the  subject,  he  writes,  "  Michelangelo  tho 
sculptor  is  so  frightened  f  that,  notwithstanding  the  promise 

*  Gaye,  Garteqqxo,  vol.  ii.  p.  83. 

f  The  sonnet,  written  as  if  from  Rome  aljout  this  time,  certainly  does 
not  show  much  personal  fear,  and  is  so  very  plain-spoken  about  abuses 
at  the  Court  of  Rome,  that  if  the  Pope,  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  had 
seen  it,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  would  have  ever  consented  to 
pardon  the  writer.  It  is  signed,  "  Your  Michelangelo  in  Turkey,"  whero 
our  sculptor,  having  been  invited  by  the  Sultan  to  superintend  the  build- 
ing of  a  bridge  between  Pera  and  Constantinople,  seriously  thought  of 
taking  refuge  in  case  Soderini  should  turn  him  out  of  Florence. 

"  Here  helms  and  swords  are  made  of  chalices : 
The  blood  of  Christ  is  sold  so  much  the  quart : 
His  cross  and  thorns  are  spears  and  shields  :  aud  short 
Must  be  the  time  ere  even  his  patience  cease. 
Kay  let  him  come  no  more  to  raise  the  fear 
Of  fraud  and  sacrilege  beyond  report ! 
For  Rome  still  slays  and  sells  him  at  the  court, 
Where  paths  are  closed  to  virtue's  fiiir  increase. 
Now  were  fit  time  for  me  to  scrape  a  treasure  I 


2/2      Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

of  forgiveness  conveyed  to  liim  in  this  brief,  he  will  not 
return  unless  you  send  us  a  signed  letter  promising  him 
security  and  immunity."  That  the  Gonfaloniere  was  frightened 
there  is  no  doubt,  but  Michelangelo  was  not  a  man  to  be 
intimidated  by  threats,  though,  as  Soderini  wrote  to  his  brother, 
the  Cardinal  of  Volterra,  "  if  you  speak  kindly  to  him  and  treat 
him  affectionately,  you  can  do  anything  you  please  with  him." 
After  three  months  spent  in  working  upon  his  unfinished 
cartoon  at  Florence,  he  consented  to  go  to  Bologna  "  with  a 
halter  round  his  neck,"  to  use  his  own  w^ords,  "  to  ask  pardon 
of  the  Pope,"  not  because  he  was  afraid  to  refuse,  but  that 
he  did  not  wish  to  bring  trouble  upon  his  friends  and  fellow- 
citizens  ;  that  he  wished  to  return  to  Rome  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible ;  and,  lastly,  because  his  Holiness  had  sent  him  word 
by  the  Cardinal  of  Pavia,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Signory 
of  Florence,  that  "  he  would  receive  him  kindly  and  set  him 
to  work  immediately." 

As  Perugia  and  Bologna  had  submitted  to  the  Pope  after 
his  bold  march  from  Pome,  Michelangelo  had  every  reason 
to  hope  that  he  should  find  him  in  a  comparatively  amiable 
frame  of  mind  when,  after  an  absence  of  eleven  years,  he 
re-entered  the  gates  of  Bologna,  at  the  latter  end  of  November, 
150G.  He  was  recognized  by  one  of  the  Pope's  servants  while 
attending  mass  at  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Petronius,  and  con- 
ducted to  the  palace  where  Julius  had  taken  up  his  residence. 
After  the  irritation  which  showed  itself  in  the  first  words 
addressed  to  him  had  spent  itself  upon  a  meddling  Mon- 
signore,  who  proffered  an  unasked  excuse  for  the  culprit,  the 
papal  brow  relaxed  its  frown,  and  the  papal  eyes  once  more 
looked  kindly  on  the  repentant  fugitive,  who  was  needed  for 
the  realization  of  a  new  project.  This  was  to  make  a  colossal 
bronze  statue  of  the  Pope,  which,  seated  above  the  great  door 
of  St.  Petronius,*  would  perpetually  remind  the  Bolognese  of 

Seeing  that  work  and  gain  are  gone :  while  he 

Who  wears  the  robe,  is  my  Medusa  still. 

God  welcomes  poverty  perchance  with  pleasure; 

But  of  that  better  life  what  hope  have  we, 

"When  the  blest  banner  leads  to  nought  but  ill  ?  " 
See    The     Sonnets   of  Michelangelo    and    Campanella,    translated    by 
J.  Addington  Symonds,  p.  3i.     London,  1878. 

*  In  a  letter  to  his  brother  Buonarroti,  Michelangelo  thus  records  a 


Michelangelo.  273 

tbeii-  absent  master.  The  clay  model,  which  was  immediately 
begun,  was  nearly  finished  before  the  22nd  of  February,  when 
Julius,  alarmed  at  the  movements  of  Louis  XII.  of  France 
who  was  preparing  to  make  a  descent  into  Italy  to  reduce 
insurgent  Genoa  to  obedience,  left  Bologna  for  Rome.  His  last 
words  to  Michelangelo  about  the  statue  are  characteristic  of  the 
man.  Questioned  as  to  whether  the  left  hand  of  the  figure 
should  hold  a  book,  the  right  being  raised  in  a  menacing 
attitude,  he  replied,  "  Rather  a  sword,  for  I  am  no  reader." 

At  the  end  of  April,  when  the  figure  was  ready  to  be  cast 
in  bronze,  Michelangelo  seems  suddenly  to  have  remembered 
that,  as  he  knew  nothing  of  the  processes  of  the  font,  he  could 
not  go  on  without  the  assistance  of  a  skilled  workman.  He 
accordingly  wrote  to  Florence  for  Maestro  Bernardino  d'Antonio, 
a  master  of  artillery  in  the  service  of  the  Florentine  Republic, 
much  renowned  as  a  bronze-caster,  who  after  obtaining  the 
necessary  permission,  joined  him  at  Bologna  towards  the  end 
of  May.  A  month  later  an  attempt  was  made  to  cast  the 
figure,  but  as  he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  "either  on 
account  of  the  ignorance  or  misfortune  of  Bernardino  it  has 
failed.  Half  the  bronze  has  stuck  in  the  furnace,  which  must 
be  taken  to  pieces  in  order  to  get  it  out.  When  this  is  done, 
all  will  go  well  I  trust,  but  not  without  great  annoyance, 
fatigue,  and  expense.  So  great  was  my  faith  in  Bernardino 
that  I  w-as  ready  to  believe  that  he  could  have  cast  the  statue 
without  fire ;  not  that  I  mean  to  say  that  he  is  not  a  skilful 
artist,  or  that  he  did  not  do  his  best,  but  those  who  work 
are  liable  to  fail,  and  he  has  failed,  not  only  to  my  injury 
but  to  his  own,  for  he  is  blamed  in  such  a  fashion  that  he 
hardly  dares  to  raise  his  eyes  in  Bologna."* 

The  second  casting  succeeded  much  better,  though  even  this 
seems  to  have  been  less  perfect  than  might  have  been  hoped, 

visit  of  the  Pope  to  his  studio  on  the  29th  of  January : — "  On  Friday 
Evening  at  21  o'clock  {sic)  Pope  JuUus  came  to  the  house  where  I  am 
working  and  stayed  about  half  an  hour  while  I  was  at  work ;  he  then 
gave  me  his  blessing  and  went  away.  He  seemed  pleased  with  what  I 
am  doing.  For  this  it  seems  to  me  we  have  reason  to  thank  God  :  so 
do  I  pray  for  you,  and  ask  you  to  pray  for  me."  Letter  L.  Milanesi, 
Lettere,  p.  65.  In  another  letter.  No.  li.,  to  the  same  he  records  a  second 
visit  on  the  1st  of  February,  1507. 
*  Letter  lxiii.,  Milanesi,  op.  cit.  p.  79.    Dated  July  6 

T 


2  74     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Scidptttre. 

as  several  months  of  hard  work  were  afterwards  spent  in 
cleaning  and  polishing  the  surface  of  the  statue.  In  Novemher 
it  was  finished,  but  as  the  Pope  had  made  Michelangelo 
promise  to  remain  at  Bologna  until  it  was  actually  placed 
above  the  door  of  the  basilica,  he  was  obliged  to  restrain  his 
impatience  until  the  21st  of  February,  1508,  when  the  final 
ceremony  took  place  with  the  accustomed  rejoicings.  Pipes, 
trumpets,  drums,  and  bells  made  the  day  soporous,  and  fetes 
and  fireworks  made  the  night  joyous.  Four  years  later 
(December  30,  1511)  when  the  Bentivogli  came  back  to  enjoy 
their  own  again,  a  furious  rabble  gathered  in  the  square  before 
the  church,  bent  on  the  destruction  of  this  effigy  of  a  now 
detested  taskmaster.  When  lowered  to  the  pavement,  upon 
which  despite  every  precaution  it  left  the  impress  of  its  enor- 
mous weight,  it  was  delivered  over  to  the  insults  of  the  populace, 
and  then  broken  into  fragments  which  were  given,  in  exchange 
for  some  pieces  of  artillery,  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  who  recast 
them  in  the  shape  of  a  huge  cannon,  fit  symbol  of  so  warlike 
a  pope  as  Julius  II. 

The  many  letters  written  by  Michelangelo  to  his  brother 
Buonarroti  during  his  forced  and  prolonged  stay  at  Bologna 
are  filled  with  expressions  of  discontent.  "Like  everything 
else  here,"  he  writes,  "the  wine  is  dear  and  bad,  so  that  life 
is  a  burden,  and  it  seems  to  me  a  thousand  years  before  I  can 
come  to  you ;  "  and  again,  "  I  must  stick  to  my  work,  else  it 
will  detain  me  another  six  months  ;  "  and  again,  "  Know  that 
I  desire  a  speedy  return  even  more  than  you  desire  it  for  me, 
for  I  live  here  in  the  greatest  discomfort  and  undergo  the  most 
extreme  fatigues,  working  day  and  night ;  you  would  be  sorry 
for  me  if  you  knew  how  I  am  situated  here."  Writing  to  his 
younger  brother  Giovan  Simone,  he  alludes  in  a  half-joking  way 
to  the  plague  which  had  broken  out  at  Bologna.  "You  tell 
me  that  you  have  heard  from  one  of  your  friends,  a  physician, 
that  the  pest  is  a  bad  disease  which  kills.  I  am  glad  that  you 
have  heard  this,  for  we  have  it  here,  and  these  Bolognese  have 
not  yet  found  out  that  it  is  a  mortal  sickness."  * 

On  his  return  to  Florence  in  March,  1508,  Michelangelo  took 
a  year's  lease  of  the  house  in  the  Borgo  Pinti  which  had  been 

*  Letter  cxxiv.,  dated  April  20,  1507. 


Michelangelo.  275 

built  for  him  by  the  Board  of  Works  of  the  Cathedral  when  he 
acccjDted  the  commission  for  the  statues  of  the  Apostles,  with 
the  intention  of  completing  them,  but  as  the  Pope  insisted  upon 
his  coming  immediately  to  Rome  to  paint  the  ceiling  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  he  reluctantly  changed  his  plans,  and  arrived 
there  at  the  end  of  June.  To  go  on  with  the  Papal  monument 
was  his  heartfelt  wish,  but  Julius  was  obdurate,  and  although 
Michelangelo  protested  that  he  was  no  painter,  he  was  obliged  to 
begin  the  mighty  task  before  the  end  of  the  year.  When  it  was 
half  completed  the  scaffold  was  removed  that  the  Pope  might 
judge  of  the  effect,  and  the  doors  of  the  chapel  were  thrown  open 
on  All  Saints'  Daj^  1509.  They  v.:re  then  again  closed,  and  if 
the  papal  chamberlain  is  to  be  trusted,  were  not  re-opened  to  the 
public  until  March,  1513,  when  the  Pope  died,  though  it  is  gene- 
rally supposed  that  the  frescoes  were  finished  in  the  previous 
year.  As  the  special  subject  of  this  work  and  the  limits 
assigned  to  it  do  not  permit  us  to  dwell  upon  them,  we  must 
refer  our  readers  to  Harford,  Grimm,  Gotti  and  other  waiters 
who  have  done  so  with  all  fulness,  and  content  ourselves  with 
saying  that  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  perhaps  the 
greatest  of  achievements  in  art,  could  only  have  been  conceived 
and  executed  by  one  who  was  not  only  architect  and  sculptor,  but 
also  painter  and  poet. 

Perhaps  no  other  man  ever  lived  who  could  have  grappled 
successfully  with  such  an  enterprise,  for  even  if  we  could  name 
one  who  had,  like  Michelangelo,  the  requisite  knowledge  of  all  the 
arts  of  design,  coupled  with  poetical  genius  of  the  highest  order, 
this  genius  and  that  knowledge  would  not  have  sufficed  without 
the  Titanic  boldness  of  spirit  which  gave  him  courage  to  under- 
take what  seemed  beyond  human  power. 

The  death  of  Julius  II.,  in  1513,  deprived  Michelangelo  of  a 
real  though  an  often  troublesome  friend,  who  was  ill  replaced  by 
Leo  X.,  whose  person  and  court  were  uncongenial  to  him.  The 
one  hope  which  sustained  him  in  a  grief  greater  than  any  which 
he  had  felt  since  the  death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  was,  that  he 
would  now  be  allowed  to  complete  the  monument  which  the  lato 
Pope's  superstitious  fears  had  caused  him  to  abandon.  This 
hope  was  authorized  by  the  provision  made  in  his  will  that  it 
should  be  finished  on  a  somewhat  diminished  scale,  and  reduced 
to  an  apparent  certainty  upon  the  signing  of  a  new  contract  with 

T  2 


2/6    Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sculpture. 

his  executors,  whose  payments  to  Michelangelo  during  the  next 
two  years'"''  show  that  no  oj^position  was  made  to  the  prosecution 
of  this  work  until  Leo  X.  visited  Florence  in  1514,  when  seeing 
the  unfinished  condition  of  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo,  which 
was  the  hurial-j^lace  of  the  Medici,  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
doing  honour  to  his  race  by  completing  it,  and  solicited  designs 
for  its  fagade  from  Baccio  d'Agnolo,  Giuliano  da  Sangallo, 
Andrea  and  Jacopo  Sansovino,  Raphael,  and  Michelangelo. 
Why  the  latter,  who  was  no  practical  architect,  did  not  decline 
to  compete  if  he  really  wished  to  be  left  undisturbed,  we  cannot 
understand,  for  he  must  have  foreseen  that  if,  as  it  happened, 
bis  design  was  accepted  he  would  be  called  upon  to  carry  it  out. 
He  had  lately  signed  a  second  contract  with  the  executors,  which 
bound  him  not  to  undertake  any  work  of  importance  until  he  had 
completed  that  which  he  had  on  hand  for  them,  and  was  at  Carrara 
when  the  Pope  recalled  him  to  Rome,  forced  him  to  accept  the 
commission,  and  then  sent  him  back  to  the  quarries  to  procure 
the  necessary  materials  for  the  facade. •!•  In  this  occupation 
nearly  three  years  of  his  life  were  wasted  and  embittered  by 
pecuniary  embarrassment,  uncongenial  toil,  and  those  ceaseless 
annoyances  which  made  the  Tragedy  of  the  Fagade  only  second 
to  the  Tragedy  of  the  Sepulchre. 

These  years  were  spent  in  tedious  journeys  to  and  from  the 
mountains  of  Carrara,  and  in  building  a  road  to  the  quarries  of 
Seravezza,  hitherto  approachable  only  by  footpaths,  j  As  the 
ground  was  both  marshy  and  rocky,  a  long  time  passed  before 
it  could  be  made  solid  and  smooth  enough  to  admit  of  the 
transportation  of  marbles  to  the  sea-shore,  and  long  before 
this  was  done  the  Pope's  ardour  had  begun  to  cool,  and  the 
supplies  of  money  to  decrease  in  proportion.  The  weight  of 
tedious  labour,  the  heartsickness  of  exile,  the  impatient  fret- 

*  Through  Bernardo  Bini  he  received  6,100  ducats  on  acconnt  in  1514 
and  1515.     Hea  Appendix  to  Gotti,  op.  cit.  No.  8. 

t  Leo  obliged  the  executors  to  consent  to  his  wishes,  promising  them, 
however,  that  Michelangelo  should  do  what  he  could  for  them  when  not 
otherwise  employed. 

X  As  the  Marchese  Malespina,  Lord  of  Massa  and  Carrara,  derived  a 
considerable  portion  of  his  income  from  the  quarries  at  Carrara,  he 
looked  with  a  jealous  eye  upon  the  attempt  to  make  those  of  Seravezza 
accessible.  Obstacles  were  thrown  in  Michelangelo's  way,  and  the 
hostility  of  the  Carrarese  workmen  was  excited  against  him. 


Michelangelo.  277 

ting  of  a  proud  and  haughty  will  against  a  power  which  it  could 
not  resist,  would  have  shaken  and  unnerved  a  less  resolute 
spirit  and  crippled  its  powers  completely.  But  Michelangelo 
was  strong  enough  to  hide  his  time.  He  had  long  ago  learned 
that  his  destiny  was  to  struggle  and  to  he  temporarily  overcome, 
and  though  defeated  could  yet  hope  for  ultimate  victory.  He 
believed  that  the  Pope  had  sent  him  to  Carrara  to  get  him  out 
of  the  way,  and  although  he  was  well  received  when  he  went  to 
Rome  for  a  few  weeks  in  the  autumn  of  1517  to  present  a  model 
of  the  facade  to  the  Pope,  this  belief  was  in  no  wise  shaken.* 

At  the  end  of  February  he  was  again  sent  back  to  the  moun- 
tains, nor  was  it  till  another  twelvemonth  had  elapsed  that  he 
was  liberated  by  the  final  abandonment  of  the  enterprise.  The 
fruit  of  all  his  toil  and  anxiety  was  certainly  not  sufficient  to 
console  him.  Only  six  columns  had  been  extracted  from  the 
quarries,  four  of  which  were  never  carried  further  than  the  sea- 
shore. One  still  lies  at  La  Vincarella  amid  a  mass  of  chips  and 
blocks  of  Seravezza  marble,  and  one  may  be  seen  at  Florence  at 
the  base  of  the  bare  brick- wall  which  it  and  its  fellows  were 
to  have  rendered  beautiful,  forming  a  silent  but  impressive 
memorial  of  the  wasted  years  of  one  of  the  greatest  among  men 
of  genius. 

From  time  to  time  during  his  exile  at  Carrara,  Michel- 
angelo had  visited  Florence,  and  had  employed  himself  at  long 
intervals  upon  the  monument  to  Pope  Julius.  To  this  he 
returned  when  he  was  finally  freed  from  his  engagement  to 
Leo,  nor  would  he  suffer  himself  to  be  enticed  back  to  Piome, 
although  certain  inducements  were  held  out  to  him  which 
seem  to  show  that  the  reigning  pontiff  was  not  as  hostile 
to  him  as  he  believed  him  to  be.  Thus,  after  the  death  of 
Raphael  he  was  invited,  through  his  friend  Sebastiano  del 
Piombo,  to  paint  the  Hall  of  the  Pontiffs  at  the  Vatican.  As 
Raphael  had  left  drawings  or  cartoons  for  the  mural  decora- 
tions of  this  hall,  his  scholars,  Giulio  Romano  and  Francesco 

*  In  Michelangelo's  design,  preserved  at  the  Casa  Buonarroti,  the 
architecture,  as  was  his  wont,  is  treated  as  a  background  to  sculpture,  or, 
in  other  words,  as  a  field  for  the  display  of  statues  and  bas-reliefs.  "  He 
did  the  work  of  an  architect,"  says  M.  Gamier  {Gaz.  des  Beaux  Arts, 
January  1,  1876,  pp.  192-4),  "  but  he  was  not  an  architect,  properly 
speaking." 


2/8     Historical  Handbook  of  Italian  Sndpture, 

Penni,  laid  claim  to  tlie  commission,  and  it  is  just  to  suppose 
that  Michelangelo's  refusal  to  interfere  was  at  least  partially 
prompted  by  a  proper  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  great  painter, 
whose  wishes,  could  they  have  been  expressed,  would  have  un- 
doubtedly been  that  his  designs  should  be  carried  out  by  his 
scholars.  Other  reasons  against  the  acceptance  of  the  offer 
are  not  difficult  to  conjecture,  such  as  that  he  wished  to  com- 
plete the  monument,  and  that  painting  was  not  an  art  to  which 
his  nature  inclined  him.  He  was  at  this  time  working  upon 
a  statue  of  Christ  which  he  had  long  before  commenced  for 
his  friend  Metello  Yari.  After  he  had  brought  the  marble 
to  an  advanced  stage  of  completion  he  sent  it  to  Eome  under 
the  care  of  one  of  his  workmen,  Pietro  Urbano,  whom  he 
charged  to  finish  it  according  to  his  design,  but  Pietro  had 
the  vanity  to  suppose  that  he  could  improve  his  master's  work, 
and  after  doins:  much  mischief,  was  dismissed  in  disgrace. 
"  He  has  spoiled  everything,"  writes  Sebastiano  del  Piombo 
to  Michelangelo,  "  especially  the  feet  and  hands,  so  at  least 
says  Federigo  Frizzi,  a  Florentine  sculptor  of  repute,  in  whose 
judgment  I  have  greater  confidence  than  in  my  own,  as  I  do 
not  pretend  to  understand  how  to  work  marble.  As  for  the 
beard,  my  studio  boy  would  have  known  better  how  to  do  it, 
indeed,  it  looks  as  if  a  blunt  knife  had  been  used  in  the 
operation.  I  have  put  it  into  Frizzi's  hands,  and  he  M'ill  do 
his  best  to  finish  it  satisfactorily."*  In  October  of  this  same 
year  the  statue  was  set  up  in  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  sopra 
Minerva,  where  it  still  stands.  The  sculptor  was  evidently  not 
himself  when  he  conceived  it,  for  of  all  his  works  it  is  the  most 
insipid.  "He  was  at  this  time,"  says  Condivi,  "in  a  despon- 
dent frame  of  mind,  unable  to  apply  himself  to  anything,  or 
when  so  doing,  working  without  enthusiasm."  Suddenly  a  hope 
dawned  in  his  mind  that  an  object  worth}^  to  call  forth  his  best 

*  This  letter  is  dated  September  6,  15'21.  The  statue  was  begun  at 
Rome  in  151-A  at  the  request  of  Bernardo  Cenci,  Canon  of  St.  Peter's, 
Maestro  Mario  Scuppiani,  and  Metello  Vai-i,  but  the  block  of  marble 
proving  unsatisfactory  it  was  abandoned.  In  1521  Michelangelo  again 
blocked  out  the  figure  and  worked  upon  it  between  the  months  of  April 
and  August.  {See  Wilson,  o]).  cit.  pp.  200,  264).  The  name  of  the 
workman  employed  by  Michelangelo  to  finish  it  is  incorrectly  given  by 
this  writer  as  Pietro  d'  Urbino.  Gotti  (vol.  i.  p.  140)  calls  him  Pietro 
Urbano,  as  does  Vasari. 


Michelangelo.  279 

powers  would  be  set  before  him.  A  petition  was  about  to  bo 
sent  by  the  Florentine  Academy  to  the  Pope,  urging  tha